1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:05,880 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. It is international talk like a pirate Day. 2 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:08,760 Speaker 1: So today we have an episode on a pirate, well 3 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:11,440 Speaker 1: a privateer, which is just a pirate you as a 4 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: government's permission to be doing that. This is Alexander Selkirk, 5 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:18,840 Speaker 1: who is what are the likely inspirations for the novel 6 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:22,799 Speaker 1: Robinson Crusoe. So this classic is also actually connected to 7 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: our recent episode on Joshua Slocum's Circumnavigation of the World. 8 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:32,559 Speaker 1: This episode originally came out April from previous hosts Sarah 9 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: and Bablina. And if you're curious, yes, the term maroon 10 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 1: does come from the term for communities of previously enslaved Africans, 11 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 1: which we have discussed in our previous episode that Tracy 12 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: and I did on Jamaica's Maroon Wars. Welcome to Stuff 13 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: you Missed in History Class a production of I Heart Radio, 14 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast I'm to bling a Chuck 15 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: reboarding and I'm fair downy. And even if you haven't 16 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:09,040 Speaker 1: read Daniel Dafoe's novel Robinson Crusoe, you've probably at least 17 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: heard of its main character, also called Robinson Crusoe, and 18 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:15,759 Speaker 1: he said to be one of the best known characters 19 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 1: in world literature. The story, of course, is about the 20 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:22,400 Speaker 1: adventures of an English seaman who gets shipwrecked on an 21 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:26,880 Speaker 1: uninhabited or seemingly uninhabited island for twenty eight years, and 22 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 1: it's kind of about the experiences that he has. They're 23 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: making a home um fending off cannibals, and I read it, 24 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 1: I think my sophomore year of college, and I honestly 25 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: do not remember much about it now except that he 26 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,920 Speaker 1: spent the majority of his time worrying about being murdered 27 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: by cannibals, which I got a big kick out of 28 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: that spelling. Yeah, So it's about these little adventures that 29 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: he has and just surviving. How does he survive on 30 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: this island. So it really does seem like this bizarre, 31 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:00,640 Speaker 1: fantastical tale. But what's really interesting, at least to us, 32 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: is that it's widely believed to be based on a 33 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: true story, the story of a Scottish man named Alexander 34 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: Selkirk who was ruined on an uninhabited island for more 35 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 1: than four years in the early seventeen hundreds. Yeah, it's 36 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:16,079 Speaker 1: not a straight copy of selkirk story, though definitely not. 37 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 1: For one thing, seal Kirk spent a lot less time 38 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: on the island than fictional Robinson Crusoe Dead. The location 39 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:25,799 Speaker 1: of the island is different. Crusoe is in the Atlantic, 40 00:02:25,919 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: Selkirk was in the South Pacific. And how the heroes, 41 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: if if we're going to consider them that the main character, 42 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:35,799 Speaker 1: the main characters, how they ended up on the islands 43 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 1: is very different. Selkirk wasn't shipwrecked. He actually chose to 44 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,559 Speaker 1: be there, and I think that's probably the most fascinating 45 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:46,960 Speaker 1: little bit of the story that you would choose this isolation, 46 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 1: kind of unwittingly, he didn't know exactly what he was 47 00:02:49,639 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: going to get into, but certainly more interesting than a shipwreck. Yeah, absolutely, 48 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 1: I would totally. I mean, y'all know I like shipwrecks too, 49 00:02:58,040 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: So that's saying a lot. That's saying a lot of 50 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:02,360 Speaker 1: Sarah here. But we're going to take a look at 51 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 1: that really unusual decision, or to us at least an 52 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: unusual decision, and also a little bit of course about 53 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,959 Speaker 1: Selkirk's own island experience, what he did to survive while 54 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,080 Speaker 1: he was there, and that's I mean, in that part, 55 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: that's where you're really going to see most of the 56 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,239 Speaker 1: similarities between his story and Caruso's I think, and um, 57 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: of course we're gonna look at how did this experience 58 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: change him? Yeah, you think, a few years on the 59 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: island by yourself, definitely you're gonna be a different man 60 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 1: when you finally come off of it. But first, of 61 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:32,840 Speaker 1: course we're gonna look at how he made his way 62 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: to the sea in the first place. He was born 63 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: Alexander sel Craig in sixteen seventies six in Lower Largo, Scotland, 64 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 1: which is a fishing village in Fife County, and he 65 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: was the seventh son of a shoemaker named John cel 66 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: Craig and a woman named euth and Mackie. And like 67 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: a lot of the stories that we cover here on 68 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: this podcast, we see a situation where the son Alexander 69 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: really wants to do something different from what his dad 70 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 1: wants him to do. His dad, John really wants Alexander 71 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: to follow in his footsteps and join the shoemaking business. 72 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 1: Has right sorry bad pun, unintended pun as well. But 73 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: Alexander dreamed about a life on the sea, about getting 74 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: to the sea, and his mother supported those dreams because 75 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: she believed that alex was blessed with luck, even though 76 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,840 Speaker 1: he was a bit of a troublemaking punk. Um. As 77 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: you'll see, according to a Smithsonian article by Bruce sel Craig, 78 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: who is interestingly actually a descendant of alex and he's 79 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,880 Speaker 1: checked out all these historical records from Largo's church elders, 80 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: and he found that Alexander was actually punished several times 81 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: for transgressions, little crimes such as fornication. That's how it 82 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: was listed in the records. Yeah, definitely, um, kind of scandalous. 83 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 1: And it was for one of those little crimes, one 84 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 1: of those transgressions, that he was supposed to appear before 85 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,279 Speaker 1: the church elders on this day in six and that 86 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:53,839 Speaker 1: appears to be the day that he ran away to 87 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,479 Speaker 1: see for the first time, because yeah, he skipped town. 88 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 1: He did not make his little court appearance before the 89 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,679 Speaker 1: church elders, and um, it's assumed that he was possibly 90 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,839 Speaker 1: with a Scottish colonizing expedition to Panama or what is 91 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:09,160 Speaker 1: now Panama. Yeah, but he wasn't gone for good after that. 92 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 1: He popped up around home again, at least long enough 93 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: to cause some more trouble. In late November seventeen o one, 94 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,359 Speaker 1: he got into this huge fight with his family which 95 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 1: led to him assaulting his father and his brother John 96 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:26,720 Speaker 1: and possibly even John's wife. And the whole thing might 97 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: have started when his brother Andrew sort of laughed or 98 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:35,600 Speaker 1: made fun of him for accidentally drinking seawater saltwater. Very sensitive, Yeah, 99 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 1: definitely to to go after his whole family. So you know, 100 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,920 Speaker 1: he's he's around, it seems, back from from Scotland time 101 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: to time. And then in seventeen oh three he makes 102 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: his first really big break. Yeah, he joins buccaneer William 103 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:54,720 Speaker 1: Dampier's Privateering expedition to South America. And just to give 104 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: you a little background on that, the Privateers, they're basically 105 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 1: legitimate pirates for the British crown. So since Alexander had 106 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:03,599 Speaker 1: done well in math and geography and navigation in school 107 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 1: and impressed his mentors, those credentials kind of helped him 108 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,480 Speaker 1: secure a position as a navigator on this particular journey. 109 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: And this is around the time as well that he 110 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,400 Speaker 1: started becoming known as Selkirk, and folks aren't totally sure 111 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: about why he made that change. He might have been 112 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:21,440 Speaker 1: trying to distance himself from this kind of sketchy past, 113 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: or maybe it was just a spelling or pronunciation misunderstanding. Yeah, 114 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 1: I guess some historians think that maybe spelling just wasn't 115 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,279 Speaker 1: that important back then. It happens, so he has his 116 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: new name, Selkirk, and he joins this expedition which has 117 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 1: two different ships involved. One is called the sink Ports 118 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 1: and one is called the St. George. And Selkirk himself 119 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:46,720 Speaker 1: was aboard the sink Ports when they set sales September 120 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: sevent three, and like we said earlier, he was a 121 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:52,840 Speaker 1: good navigator and helped the ship out quite a bit. 122 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:55,039 Speaker 1: He helped them travel as far as fifty miles on 123 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:57,840 Speaker 1: a good day. They made it to Brazil in two 124 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:00,839 Speaker 1: weeks or so, which I find that pretty arkable early 125 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: seventeen hundreds. But it wasn't The expedition itself was not 126 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: going well. His navigation seems like about one of the 127 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 1: only things that was really working. The privateers had problems 128 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: from the very start, and a lot of that trouble 129 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 1: came from dissension among the ranks. Yeah. Damp Here was 130 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: seen by many to be cruel and incompetent um. For example, 131 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: he was known to let captured ships go free without disturbed, 132 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: distributing all the loot to his men like he was. Yeah, 133 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,000 Speaker 1: that's how they made their cash. So a lot of 134 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 1: the crew didn't like him for that reason, and trouble 135 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: started pretty much from the beginning surrounding that relationship with him. 136 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: There was also a lot of illness aboard um during 137 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 1: that time. Ships were breeding ground for typhus, dysentery, and cholera, 138 00:07:41,720 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: and so by November, several of the men were sick 139 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: with fever or scurvy, which is actually caused by a 140 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 1: vitamin C deficiency. Yeah, and one of the guys who 141 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:53,360 Speaker 1: get sick is the Captain Charles Pickering, and he died 142 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,520 Speaker 1: in late November. So you had a replacement move in, 143 00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 1: young Lieutenant Thomas Straddling, and he took over the command 144 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:12,000 Speaker 1: of the sink parts. You think that maybe, with all 145 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: the dissension in their ranks, change like this might make 146 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:17,559 Speaker 1: things a little better. It makes things worse. The crew 147 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 1: disliked him as much, maybe even more than damp here. 148 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:25,440 Speaker 1: So a lot of trouble now aboard both of these ships. Yeah, 149 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 1: and I mean to add to these already two kind 150 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 1: of big issues. There was also the fact that they 151 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:32,240 Speaker 1: weren't very successful at what they were supposed to be doing, 152 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:34,839 Speaker 1: which was the privateering part of it. They were trying 153 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: to capture Spanish merchant ships, but they weren't able to 154 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 1: do it. So the sailors almost mutinied many times because 155 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: they weren't happy with strad Lane and they thought Dampier 156 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 1: should attack more ships. Um as we said before, I mean, 157 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 1: this is how they made their money. This is otherwise 158 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: they're just wasting their time, otherwise catching scurvy right, hanging out, 159 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,760 Speaker 1: risking their lives. So they really wanted this to happen. 160 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 1: But the major difficulty that ultimately turned out to be 161 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: the turning point for silk Kirk was the poor condition 162 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:05,320 Speaker 1: of the ship that he was on. By September seventeen 163 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: o four, selkirk ship was so leaky that men had 164 00:09:08,679 --> 00:09:11,840 Speaker 1: to pump water out of it almost constantly, pretty much 165 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:13,720 Speaker 1: day and night. I mean, I think it's interesting that 166 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: that's the point. The poor condition of the ship is 167 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:18,720 Speaker 1: what drives him over the edge. Not that you know, 168 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:22,800 Speaker 1: they're not attacking Spanish or that everyone's getting sick, but 169 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: he's seriously afraid that the ship will sink, and I 170 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:28,200 Speaker 1: mean it it is getting really bad. Like you mentioned, 171 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:32,400 Speaker 1: they're there taking the water out constantly, and so finally 172 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:35,400 Speaker 1: they decided to return to an island called Massa Tira, 173 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 1: where they had spent some time earlier that year, and 174 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:41,640 Speaker 1: it was located in the one Fernandez cluster, which is 175 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:49,040 Speaker 1: about four hundred miles sixty kilometers west of valparios O, Chile. 176 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:51,600 Speaker 1: So you know, they were just hoping stop there a 177 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 1: little bit, build up supplies again and rest and then 178 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:59,440 Speaker 1: head out. That was the plan, at least of the captain. Yeah, 179 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: and they did part of that. They spent about a 180 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:04,600 Speaker 1: month there stalking the ship with provisions, but they didn't 181 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,080 Speaker 1: really get much fixed on the ship. It was still 182 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:10,559 Speaker 1: pretty warm, ridden in bad shape. So but still then 183 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: Straddling decides that it was time to set sail. Sil 184 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:16,559 Speaker 1: Kirk argued with him. He stressed that he believed the 185 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:19,439 Speaker 1: ship wasn't sound, it wasn't fit to sail. The mass 186 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:22,400 Speaker 1: mass and the floors were so worm eaten that they 187 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:24,760 Speaker 1: wouldn't be able to withstand open sea, much less these 188 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 1: battles that the sailors really wanted to get into ships. So, 189 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:33,239 Speaker 1: showing his stubbornness as we've seen before, sail Kirk refused 190 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 1: to back down from this fight, so he was put 191 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: ashore with some of his provisions his betting A must 192 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:44,320 Speaker 1: get a pistol, gunpowder, a hatchet, a knife, his navigational tools, 193 00:10:44,679 --> 00:10:48,080 Speaker 1: a pot for boiling food, two pounds of tobacco, some 194 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:51,320 Speaker 1: cheese and jam, a flask of rum, his Bible, the 195 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 1: Book of Common Prayer, and the seventeen Spanish dollars that 196 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:56,760 Speaker 1: were his share of the booty they'd earned so far. 197 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: So you can see how little they had plundered. Spend 198 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:02,800 Speaker 1: it all in one right. So, I mean you'll see 199 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:05,480 Speaker 1: different accounts say that he brought different things ashore, but 200 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:07,760 Speaker 1: it wasn't much. I mean, it seems like a lot 201 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:09,840 Speaker 1: more than if you just happened to show up somewhere 202 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:12,040 Speaker 1: by accident, but it still wasn't a lot, definitely, and 203 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 1: more than you would leave a mutineer too. He wasn't 204 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:18,360 Speaker 1: being treated quite on that level. Yeah, and this was 205 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:21,559 Speaker 1: his choice at first. But as soon as the ship 206 00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:24,800 Speaker 1: starts to leave and he is wading through the water 207 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:29,079 Speaker 1: going to the shore, he starts to immediately regret this. Yeah, 208 00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:33,079 Speaker 1: totally regret it. Yeah. He begs, in fact, to be 209 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:36,480 Speaker 1: let back on board the ship. But Straddling wanted to 210 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 1: make an example of him, you know, in that sense, 211 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: he was treating him like a mutineer, didn't let him 212 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 1: back on board, refused the offer. So now we have 213 00:11:45,559 --> 00:11:51,679 Speaker 1: our castaway. Yeah, and at that point we have Silkirk 214 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:54,160 Speaker 1: and he's standing there. The ship is sailing away, and 215 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,960 Speaker 1: he's thinking, oh, man, I might get stuck here for 216 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:00,559 Speaker 1: like a few days or something. Little did he know, 217 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:03,360 Speaker 1: Little did he know? Yeah, he really thinks that another 218 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:05,600 Speaker 1: friendly ship will probably come along in a few days 219 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 1: time and things will be okay. He thinks that he'll 220 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:10,800 Speaker 1: be able to at least survive those few days. Because 221 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 1: Massa Tierra or Aquas Buena sins. It's also known which 222 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:17,360 Speaker 1: is now officially, by the way, named Robinson Crusoe Island. 223 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:19,600 Speaker 1: It wasn't the worst place that you could be stranded 224 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: for a little while. No, it had fresh water and 225 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:25,400 Speaker 1: plenty of food sources. It seems he had access to 226 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 1: goat meat, turtle eggs, lobsters, and a hawthorn berry like 227 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:31,760 Speaker 1: fruit that grew on something that was known as the 228 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: cabbage palm tree. And why, though, why was this uninhabited 229 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 1: island so bountiful, Yeah, bountiful larder of foods and according 230 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 1: to an article by Louis Verner in the America's it 231 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 1: had been explored already in the fifteen hundreds by the 232 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 1: Spanish and in Sebastian Garcia. Corretto was given a land 233 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 1: grant there. And so he's the one who imported the 234 00:12:56,520 --> 00:13:00,120 Speaker 1: goats and pigs and uh, he even had indians at 235 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,720 Speaker 1: a time there at a farm. The colonnad didn't work out, 236 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 1: it failed, but the goats stayed, they remain, they turned 237 00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:10,720 Speaker 1: feral and they thrived. So you know, it ended up 238 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,200 Speaker 1: being a pretty well stocked place. And there were some 239 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,480 Speaker 1: other castaways on this island with Selkirk as well. There 240 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:18,640 Speaker 1: were rats and there were feral cats, and these were 241 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 1: left behind by ships just like the ones he was on. 242 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:23,280 Speaker 1: They that had stopped at the island for a little 243 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 1: while in the ratch to sort of ended up there. 244 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:29,680 Speaker 1: They jumped ship right on their tails, right. So some 245 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 1: people had been left behind on the island too in 246 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 1: the past. Twenty four years before Alexanderston actually a Mosquito 247 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:41,400 Speaker 1: Indian man named Will was mistakenly left behind, eventually rescued 248 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:46,199 Speaker 1: three years later by another privateering ship. Incidentally, the privateering 249 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,440 Speaker 1: ship that he had been on also was one of 250 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: damp years. I think Dampier doesn't have a good record. 251 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:55,400 Speaker 1: He really doesn't. He gets around. But an interesting point 252 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:57,880 Speaker 1: about Will is that the character Friday and Defoe's novel 253 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:01,520 Speaker 1: and Robinson Crusoe may have been based on the Sky's account. 254 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:05,160 Speaker 1: So yeah, Selkirk, he does have this good supply of food. 255 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:07,959 Speaker 1: He has some potential friends, the cats on the island, 256 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 1: and you like those cats. I like cats. It would 257 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:12,720 Speaker 1: be good to have cats if you're all by yourself. 258 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: Feral cats though, Sarah ferrel cats. Well, we're gonna we're 259 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:17,880 Speaker 1: gonna get into that a little bit more. They're not 260 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: necessarily feral um. But you know, he has the knowledge 261 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:23,640 Speaker 1: that he'll be able to have enough to eat, and 262 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 1: the knowledge that he could survive if if he thinks quick. 263 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:31,600 Speaker 1: But still he's he's pretty depressed at the prospect of 264 00:14:31,960 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 1: being alone. Yeah, because he was not only alone, he 265 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:37,920 Speaker 1: was in a pretty uncomfortable situation as well. Rats would 266 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,400 Speaker 1: not at his clothes and his feet while he slept. 267 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: Plus there was just that little problem with keeping a sanity, 268 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,000 Speaker 1: no one to talk to. He was alone with his thoughts, 269 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:49,240 Speaker 1: listening to sea lions bellowing on the beach all day long. 270 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 1: He even contemplated suicide at one point. Eventually, though, a 271 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 1: change came over him. And it's kind of hard to understand, 272 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: I guess if you haven't been in that position, But 273 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 1: the way it's described in early accounts of at worries 274 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:04,080 Speaker 1: that after about eighteen months, after reading scriptures and turning 275 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: his thoughts to the study of navigation and quote force 276 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 1: of reason, he became thoroughly reconciled to his condition. And 277 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:14,080 Speaker 1: from that point on he kind of learned how to 278 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:16,520 Speaker 1: live on the island and seemed to find his own 279 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:18,600 Speaker 1: sort of piece there. If not really a happiness, it 280 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:22,119 Speaker 1: seems like a happiness, but yeah, at least not depression, 281 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:25,280 Speaker 1: it seems. And he got down to business too, you know, 282 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:27,640 Speaker 1: he worked on taking care of some of these problems 283 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: that were bothering him, starting with pest control. So I mean, 284 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 1: I would say rats nibbling at your feet at night 285 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:37,360 Speaker 1: would be a major issue, kind of top your list, 286 00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:41,200 Speaker 1: And he managed to take care of them by doing 287 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:43,920 Speaker 1: perhaps the most obvious thing you can think of, getting 288 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:47,160 Speaker 1: the cats involved in the whole process. So he domesticated 289 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 1: some of the cats by giving them pieces of goat meat. 290 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: They wanted to hang around his camp a little more then, 291 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 1: and then they realized there were also lots of feral 292 00:15:55,200 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 1: rats around. Rats are often feral like, yeah, and they 293 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:11,440 Speaker 1: took care of the problem right quick for for Selkirk. 294 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:14,280 Speaker 1: But that wasn't the only thing he had to deal with, right, 295 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:17,080 Speaker 1: I mean, he had to find food, shelter, and then 296 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:19,520 Speaker 1: there's just what are you doing with yourself all day? 297 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: You know, what's occupying your mind? Taking care of that 298 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:23,680 Speaker 1: little sanity issue we mentioned before. So we're going to 299 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 1: kind of go through how he got his food and 300 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:29,200 Speaker 1: his shelter and um, you know what he did day 301 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 1: to day. So the real Robinson cruise, this is part Yeah, 302 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 1: this is the real Robinson Cruise, so apart exactly. So 303 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:36,640 Speaker 1: first of all, what did he eat? Well, there was 304 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:40,080 Speaker 1: plenty of fish to be had, but they bothered Silkirk's 305 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:42,680 Speaker 1: stomach a lot, I guess, so he had to settle 306 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:45,160 Speaker 1: for the island's version of lobster, which was actually a giant, 307 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:48,920 Speaker 1: clawless crawfish of sorts. Um. He also it goat meat, 308 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: as we mentioned before, and once he ran out of gunpowder, 309 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:54,400 Speaker 1: he managed to get really agile, to the point that 310 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 1: he could chase down these goats that sort of outrun 311 00:16:57,040 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 1: them himself and catch them and kill them that way, 312 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 1: which I think is pretty amazing, remarkable, I think. Um, 313 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:06,399 Speaker 1: but when he wasn't eating goats or giant crawfish, he 314 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:10,000 Speaker 1: did have things like turnups and watercress and the cabbage 315 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:13,479 Speaker 1: palm we mentioned earlier. Um, just things partly left by 316 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:17,720 Speaker 1: the Spanish, just growing on the island. And unfortunately, though 317 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:20,439 Speaker 1: he was disturbed by the lack of salt and the 318 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:22,919 Speaker 1: lack of bread. I can't quite figure out the salt 319 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:26,680 Speaker 1: because presumably he's surrounded by seawater. I think he could 320 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 1: use some solar action and collect the salt, but I 321 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:33,480 Speaker 1: don't know. Maybe he had other things on his mind, 322 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:36,120 Speaker 1: he was missing it. Maybe he just needed you there, Sarah, 323 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 1: to show him the way. I think he mentioned he 324 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:40,840 Speaker 1: had other spices though. Yeah. I think there were some 325 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:42,840 Speaker 1: other peppers and things growing on the island that he 326 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,879 Speaker 1: used to season his food. But it wasn't quite salt 327 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:48,159 Speaker 1: season the goat meat season the goat meat, but it 328 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:50,680 Speaker 1: wasn't quite what he was used to still. Um, as 329 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: far as how he lived his home, I guess you 330 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:55,600 Speaker 1: could say he had managed to build two huts with 331 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:59,000 Speaker 1: wood from pimento trees and covered those with long grass 332 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:02,040 Speaker 1: and lined them with goat skins, so sounds actually kind 333 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:05,480 Speaker 1: of cozy plush one the larger one was for him 334 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:07,480 Speaker 1: to sleep in and kind of hang out in, and 335 00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: the other one was a smaller one in which he 336 00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:12,359 Speaker 1: prepared his meals. He also learned how to start a 337 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:14,640 Speaker 1: fire with wood and must get flints, and he tried 338 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:16,679 Speaker 1: to keep that going all day. And we also have 339 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:20,400 Speaker 1: to discuss how he clothed himself, because obviously a few 340 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:22,480 Speaker 1: years on an island, your clothes are not going to 341 00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:24,959 Speaker 1: last that long, especially after the rats had been gnawing 342 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: at them exactly that would reduce the lifespan pretty quickly. 343 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:31,320 Speaker 1: So when his clothes started to fall apart, he had 344 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:34,000 Speaker 1: to make new ones out of goat skins. But he 345 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:36,159 Speaker 1: didn't have a needle and thread with him, so he 346 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,480 Speaker 1: had to use a nail and again with the goats, 347 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:42,600 Speaker 1: a little piece of goat skin or old stocking sort 348 00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:45,840 Speaker 1: of fashioned into twine or thread to to lace all 349 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,359 Speaker 1: these pieces together. So he must have cut quite a 350 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,680 Speaker 1: figure once he got his outfits all made. Yeah, I 351 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:55,000 Speaker 1: guess he was pretty styling for that area of the 352 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 1: world at the time, but he didn't have anyone to 353 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:00,119 Speaker 1: show it off to. Really, he didn't have a on 354 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:03,840 Speaker 1: Friday like Robinson Crusoe did. But he did have his animals. 355 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:06,119 Speaker 1: As we mentioned before, he had the cats, and he 356 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:08,760 Speaker 1: also had goats. Um. I mean, he ate the goats, 357 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:11,919 Speaker 1: but he also sort of domesticated some of the goats 358 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:14,119 Speaker 1: as well. It's it's been said that he'd break the 359 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:16,400 Speaker 1: legs of the younger ones to kind of keep them around, 360 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:19,879 Speaker 1: and so he had his own little animal family, I 361 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:23,119 Speaker 1: guess around him. He also had some reading material. He 362 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:25,280 Speaker 1: had been left with his Bible in the Book of 363 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:28,199 Speaker 1: Common Prayer, and he would sing the psalms and he 364 00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:31,600 Speaker 1: would pray, and later he said that he was a 365 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,479 Speaker 1: better Christian while in the solitude of the island than 366 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:39,199 Speaker 1: he ever had been before. He also just really embraced 367 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 1: nature too while he was there. I mean, you'd have 368 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:43,720 Speaker 1: a lot of time to think and think about the 369 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,160 Speaker 1: island you were on, and he learned a lot about 370 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:49,680 Speaker 1: the island and himself in that way. Presumably. Yeah, very 371 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:53,000 Speaker 1: thorough like um. And he was always always on the 372 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:56,880 Speaker 1: lookout for approaching ships during this time. According to Sell, 373 00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:00,800 Speaker 1: Craig's article. Alexander had a lookouts bought which was about 374 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:04,399 Speaker 1: eight feet around there in elevation, so he had plenty 375 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:06,680 Speaker 1: of time to react if he saw someone coming, which 376 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 1: turned out to be really vital in a couple of situations, 377 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: because there was at least one instance during these four 378 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:15,120 Speaker 1: plus years when a Spanish ship came to the island 379 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:19,439 Speaker 1: and they came ashore the Spaniards did. They destroyed his hut, 380 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:22,960 Speaker 1: but Selkirk managed to evade them, and he was right 381 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,200 Speaker 1: to do so. It seems Werner actually suggests that he 382 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: would have been put to hard labor aboard a Spanish ship, 383 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,439 Speaker 1: or perhaps even jailed and lima. So it wouldn't have 384 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:32,880 Speaker 1: turned out for very well if you'd tried to kind 385 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:34,760 Speaker 1: of get on board with these guys. So, I mean, 386 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:36,840 Speaker 1: this is another thing that kind of surprised me about 387 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: this story, because you imagine somebody stranded on an island, 388 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 1: you're trying to hail any ship you see. You'd rather 389 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:46,600 Speaker 1: be taken by anybody. But that he was actually looking 390 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:51,280 Speaker 1: for ships to avoid them too, I think is fascinating. Yeah, 391 00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:53,000 Speaker 1: and I think part of this we were kind of 392 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,840 Speaker 1: talking about this a little bit before is just his 393 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,199 Speaker 1: own kind of coming to terms with being on the 394 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:00,760 Speaker 1: island and his sort of love for the island or 395 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:04,439 Speaker 1: comfort growing love for the island. Yeah, And you know 396 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:06,120 Speaker 1: we've talked about before, and you'll see in a lot 397 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,240 Speaker 1: of writings about his experience that, you know, he looked 398 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:11,880 Speaker 1: towards the sea with hope that someone would come, but 399 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:16,440 Speaker 1: also with a little bit of hesitation. Definitely, eventually, though, 400 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,480 Speaker 1: that friendly ship did come. He spotted one on the 401 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:23,240 Speaker 1: horizon and he was finally rescued February seventeen o nine 402 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:25,360 Speaker 1: by a ship called the Duke, and it was commanded 403 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:29,879 Speaker 1: by Woods Rogers. And by this point Silkirk was pretty 404 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:31,800 Speaker 1: crazy looking. I mean, he looked like he had been 405 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:34,919 Speaker 1: on an island for four years. He had a long beard, 406 00:21:35,359 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: he was wearing those goat skin clothes, which I mean, 407 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:43,280 Speaker 1: that's that's gonna make you stand out, I think. And 408 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:47,560 Speaker 1: he greeted Rogers men by making them goat soup and 409 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:50,280 Speaker 1: telling them all about his survival. So he was happy 410 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:54,119 Speaker 1: to have these visitors at first. Yeah, and they hardly 411 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 1: knew what to make of them at all. Rogers later 412 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:00,480 Speaker 1: wrote that Silkirk so much forgot his land language for 413 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:03,159 Speaker 1: want of use that we could scarce understand him for 414 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:06,239 Speaker 1: he seemed to speak his words by have so just 415 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: imagine him trying to communicate. He hasn't spoken to another 416 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:12,119 Speaker 1: human being in more than four years, and he's trying 417 00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:15,440 Speaker 1: to tell them what happened. Um, that he was marooned 418 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:19,640 Speaker 1: and luckily silk Kirk's old friend or perhaps his friend 419 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: of me. We're not really sure how good a terms 420 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,120 Speaker 1: they were on when they parted ways, but William damp 421 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,360 Speaker 1: Here was on board the ship, so again he makes 422 00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:30,199 Speaker 1: an appearance. Yep, he recognized the Silkirk and vouches for 423 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:34,640 Speaker 1: his navigational skills and also delivers him an interesting bit 424 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: of news about their old ship that they've been on together. Yeah, 425 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:41,480 Speaker 1: and that's that the ship he was right, the ship 426 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:45,679 Speaker 1: thank after it left. Yeah, the poor sink ports. I 427 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:47,879 Speaker 1: knew that was going to happen. Yeah, you did, you 428 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:51,480 Speaker 1: called it. It sank soon after abandoning Alexander in seventeen 429 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:54,120 Speaker 1: o four, and only about a dozen men survive. Most 430 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:57,080 Speaker 1: of those ended up in Spanish prisons too, so it 431 00:22:57,160 --> 00:22:59,040 Speaker 1: was actually a good thing that he ended up on 432 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:00,960 Speaker 1: the island. For a year on the island might be 433 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,400 Speaker 1: a little better than four years in a Spanish prison 434 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:07,760 Speaker 1: at least, yeah, I mean even without salt definitely. From there, 435 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:12,280 Speaker 1: Rogers makes Silkirk navigator of his ship and they sail 436 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:14,800 Speaker 1: around for two more years. So it's two more years 437 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:18,080 Speaker 1: before Selkirk actually gets home. But then they finally returned 438 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 1: to London in October seventeen eleven, and it was well 439 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:23,200 Speaker 1: worth the way that turns out, Sail Kirk comes home 440 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,679 Speaker 1: with eight hundred English pounds in his pocket. That was 441 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:29,720 Speaker 1: his share of the Duke's plundered wealth. So obviously the 442 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:33,080 Speaker 1: Duke did a lot better than Silkirk's last ship did. Yeah, 443 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 1: and Selkirk was famous pretty soon too, because both Rogers 444 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 1: and Richard Steele wrote accounts of Selkirk's experience on the 445 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 1: island in seventeen twelve and seventeen thirteen. And the way 446 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:48,360 Speaker 1: Sail Craig from the Smithsonian article describes it is that 447 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:52,520 Speaker 1: he was an eccentric celebrity, which I like that somebody 448 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: who who could travel around from pub to pub for 449 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:59,159 Speaker 1: a couple of years make sightings telling his adventures getting 450 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:01,640 Speaker 1: free meals. I mean, you have to imagine people would 451 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:03,960 Speaker 1: want to get a look at this guy. And hear 452 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:06,639 Speaker 1: his story. Yeah, and he took full advantage of the 453 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,120 Speaker 1: situation for a while. He actually ended up marrying two 454 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 1: women at the same time. They didn't know about it. It 455 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:13,080 Speaker 1: It wasn't like a sister wife situation. He married two 456 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:15,359 Speaker 1: women in two separate places that didn't find out about 457 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:18,399 Speaker 1: it until later. So you think he wouldn't be that 458 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,720 Speaker 1: good at deceit, like living by himself for four years 459 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:23,840 Speaker 1: on the island. But yeah, who knows. Maybe he didn't 460 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 1: do it intentionally. Who knows. I don't know too much 461 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:28,719 Speaker 1: about that aspect of the story, but I do know 462 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:31,480 Speaker 1: that after a few months, he didn't seem so high 463 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,119 Speaker 1: on life anymore. He wasn't so happy with the situation 464 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:37,600 Speaker 1: he had, but he became a loner, and he seemed 465 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:40,440 Speaker 1: a lot unhappier than he had when he first made 466 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 1: that goat stew cheerfully on the island for his rescuers. Um, 467 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:46,760 Speaker 1: he seemed more at peace than and now it seems 468 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:48,679 Speaker 1: like he had a hard time going back to his 469 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: lost again. Yeah, he had a hard time going back 470 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:52,840 Speaker 1: to his old life in his old world, and some 471 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:55,439 Speaker 1: biographers even say that he tried to replicate life on 472 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:58,040 Speaker 1: the island for a while by returning to Largo and 473 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:02,000 Speaker 1: living in a cave like shelter behind to his father's house. Um, 474 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:04,440 Speaker 1: he made the statement which I think is really poignant, 475 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:06,920 Speaker 1: and Steel writes about it in his account. He said, 476 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:09,520 Speaker 1: I am now worth eight hundred pounds, but she'll never 477 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,680 Speaker 1: be so happy as when I was not worth a farthing. Yeah, 478 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:16,640 Speaker 1: And so eventually, in November seventeen twenty, at the age 479 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:20,800 Speaker 1: of forty four, Selkirk decided to return to life, see 480 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:24,560 Speaker 1: something to do and some place to go again, and 481 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:28,280 Speaker 1: he signed on as the first mate of a naval warship, 482 00:25:28,359 --> 00:25:31,440 Speaker 1: the HMS Weymouth, And it was bound for the Gold 483 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: Coast of Africa, and it was searching for pirates again, 484 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:37,640 Speaker 1: you know, probably hoping to make a little money. And 485 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:40,520 Speaker 1: there was a lot of illness on board again too though, 486 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:45,360 Speaker 1: yellow fever and typhoid, and eventually Selkirk himself died aboard 487 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:50,840 Speaker 1: the ship December thirteenth, seventeen twenty one. Interestingly, Dafoe had 488 00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:54,120 Speaker 1: already published Robinson Crew, so by then it was April 489 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:59,040 Speaker 1: seventeen nineteen, but it's unclear whether he and Selkirk actually met. 490 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,600 Speaker 1: Historians debate about that. It's suggested though, that Dafoe met 491 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:07,679 Speaker 1: either or both, possibly Rogers or Steel, and he was 492 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:11,720 Speaker 1: definitely aware of selkirk story. Yeah, and from there the 493 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:15,159 Speaker 1: story became so popular and well known, and as we 494 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:18,359 Speaker 1: talked about in the introduction to this podcast, and I 495 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 1: mean we were talking before a little bit about the 496 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:22,680 Speaker 1: Swiss family, Robinson and you tend to prefer that, I think, 497 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,400 Speaker 1: to Robinson Crusoe, Sarah, don't you. Yeah, I mean it's 498 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 1: they have their whole family there. It's a little more 499 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:33,000 Speaker 1: fun and exciting. Yeah, there's not this like murdered Vacannibal's 500 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:36,680 Speaker 1: constant threat. At least they don't dwell on it so much. Yeah, 501 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:39,320 Speaker 1: but needless to say, as many stories that it's influenced. 502 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:43,960 Speaker 1: Since then, there is now real evidence also, Yeah, I 503 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:47,920 Speaker 1: mean it was the story of Robinson Crusoe became popular 504 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:50,120 Speaker 1: enough for people to actually go out and look for 505 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:54,720 Speaker 1: evidence for this real Robinson Cruso. Yeah, and they found it. 506 00:26:54,800 --> 00:27:00,639 Speaker 1: In two thousand eight, some researchers discovered Selkirk's navigational dividers, 507 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:03,080 Speaker 1: or a pair of navigational dividers from the time period 508 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:05,360 Speaker 1: that they assume are his, And they also found some 509 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:08,040 Speaker 1: post holes on the island where his two shelters would 510 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:11,720 Speaker 1: have been built, so you know, home sweet home. Yeah, 511 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:14,720 Speaker 1: and if you want to check out the real Robinson 512 00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:17,879 Speaker 1: Crusoe's home, you can do that. Um. As we mentioned, 513 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:19,800 Speaker 1: they changed the name of the island to Robinson Crusoe 514 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:22,320 Speaker 1: Island and drive home the point they did they did 515 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:24,399 Speaker 1: drive home, the point that they also are driving home, 516 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:26,840 Speaker 1: the point that they don't mind having tourists come by 517 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:34,640 Speaker 1: and check it out. Thanks so much for joining us 518 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,719 Speaker 1: on this Saturday. Since this episode is out of the archive, 519 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:39,720 Speaker 1: if you heard an email address or a Facebook U 520 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:42,040 Speaker 1: r L or something similar over the course of the show, 521 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:46,080 Speaker 1: that could be obsolete now. Our current email address is 522 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:50,720 Speaker 1: History Podcast at i heart radio dot com. Our old 523 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:53,960 Speaker 1: health stuff works email address no longer works, and you 524 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:56,560 Speaker 1: can find us all over social media at missed in 525 00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:00,520 Speaker 1: History and you can subscribe to our show on Apple podcasts, 526 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:03,800 Speaker 1: Google podcasts, the I heart Radio app, and wherever else 527 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:09,800 Speaker 1: you listen to podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class 528 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 1: is a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts 529 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:16,520 Speaker 1: from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, 530 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:18,639 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.