TOPOGEAPHY OF CHILI. 



4G7 



seals. Even Mas a Tierra and Mas a Fnera were at first inhabited only by the 

 goats left loose by Juan Fernandez, and by wild cats descended from those which 

 had escaped from passing vessels. But towards the end of the seventeenth century 

 these islands became the resort of buccaneers, who here obtained supplies of fresh 

 meat and water, and from that time they frequently received temporary visitors. 



Nevertheless Mas a Tierra, which had been most visited, was found to be 

 unoccupied in 1704, when an English skipper here abandoned Alexander Selkirk, 

 one of his crew, whose history, combined with that of another castaway on Tobago 

 Island, supplied Defoe with the materials for his immortal romance of Robinson 



Fi^. 179. — Mount Selkirk, Juan Fernandez Island. 



Crusoe. Near the most frequented anchorage is shown a cave on the north side 

 where dwelt the unfortunate derelict. Here the officers of an English frigate have 

 placed a marble tablet with an inscription recording the adventures of Selkirk. 

 Later Mas a Tierra was utilised by Spain, and afterwards by Chili, as a place of 

 detention for criminals. Now both islands have been granted to a rich stock-breeder, 

 and in 1878 Mas a Tierra had a small permanent population of 54 persons. 



:Easfer Island, which the Chilian Government has made a penal settlement, 

 is also engaged chiefly in stock-breeding, and carries on a little trade with 

 Tahiti. In 1874, when it was occupied by Chili, the Frenchman who had 

 installed himself in the island was governing it through a " queen." This 



