JUAN FERNANDEZ. 347 
Lord Cochrane had adopted Chile as his country : its government 
has used him ill; and now at a time when, if he had been so 
minded, revenge on the authors of the ill-usage he has suffered would 
have been easy, he withdraws. I know that it has been thought right 
that in civil commotions every honest man should take part, in order 
that the wiser might bring matters to an accommodation. This is 
good for the natives of a country, but is no ways to be desired from 
a stranger, especially a martial man of high reputation and rank, 
who might be supposed to have the inclination as well as the power to 
set up his own authority. In this case, having done every thing to 
deliver the country from a foreign enemy, and to secure its national 
independence, it is wisdom, it is generosity, to stand aloof and let the 
seed of the soil be the arbiters of the concerns of the soil: Law and 
justice themselves can but. guard the citizens from external evils, but 
may not meddle in their family affairs. 
From the 18th to the 21st we had weather very uncomfortable, 
and a disagreeable sea ; but this morning (22d) we descried the island 
of Mas-afuera about seven leagues off, right a-head, through a fog ; 
and shortly after bore up for Juan Fernandez, where we were to 
complete the water for the ship. I should have been sorry, indeed, 
to have left the Pacific without seeing the very island of Alexander 
Selkirk, the prototype of that most interesting of all heroes of ro- 
mance (excepting Don Quixote), Robinson Crusoe. 
24th. — Yesterday and to-day in sight of Juan Fernandez, and 
working for it, but could not reach it till near sunset. “It is the most 
picturesque I ever saw, being composed of high perpendicular rocks 
wooded nearly to the top, with beautiful valleys; and the ruins of 
the little town in the largest of these heighten the effect. It was too 
late to go ashore when we anchored ; but it was a bright moonlight, 
and we staid long on deck to-night, admiring the extraordinary 
beauty of the scene. 
25th. — Before daylight this morning Lord Cochrane and most 
of the other gentlemen went ashore to climb to the high ridge behind 
the port, and look over to the other side of the island, where it is 
Vics 
