NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE. 
821 
island but only two anchored, and these being Spanish, their crews shot at him and 
pursued h im into the woods, where he managed to conceal himself in a tree. When first 
left on shore by Straclling, Selkirk was successful in providing food and lodging for himself, 
and built two huts which he covered with long grass and lined with goat skins, one of 
which was used as a kitchen, and the other to sleep in. When his gunpowder failed, he 
was obliged to catch the goats by speed of foot, and this he was soon enabled to do, for 
his mode of living and continual exercise in running and walking, kept him in such an 
excellent state of health that he could outstrip the goat in swiftness, and was quite as 
surefooted. His agility in this pursuit once nearly cost him his life, as he ran with so 
much eagerness that he caught hold of the animal on the brink of a precipice, which was 
hidden by bushes, and fell with the goat from a great height, being so stunned and bruised 
with the fall that he lay prostrate twenty-four hours before he could crawl back to his 
hut, and probably would have been killed outright had he not fallen on the goat. Besides 
goats, he had in the season plenty of good turnips, which were sown there by Captain 
Dampier, and cabbage from the Cabbage Tree. His meat he seasoned with the fruit of 
the Pimento 1 and with a black pepper called “ malagueta,” which he found an excellent 
stomachic. 
At first Selkirk was much distressed by the want of bread and salt, but at length 
grew accustomed to do without them. Salt he might easily have procured had he wished, 
for the buccaneers in 1687 supplied themselves with that condiment by making salt 
pans near the seaside, and it is surprising that Selkirk did not follow their example. 
He soon wore out his shoes and clothes, and after a time, by being accustomed to shift 
without the former, his feet became so hard that he felt no inconvenience from their 
absence. Goat skins furnished him with clothes, the pimento wood with fire by 
friction, and taming some kids with amusement. He describes the climate as excellent. 
The winter lasts but two months (June and July), and the trees and grass are verdant 
throughout the year. The residence of Selkirk on the island, together with the accounts 
of the Mosquito Indians and buccaneers, furnished Daniel Defoe with materials for the 
construction of his celebrated tale of Robinson Crusoe, the scene of which was, however, 
transferred to the West Indies. 
In 1712 it appears that some Frenchmen, under the direction of a person named 
Apreanat, established a fishery at Juan Fernandez, and that a Spanish ship, the 
“ St. Charles,” going there for a cargo of salt fish, was wrecked on the island, but all the 
crew were saved. 
In 1718 Clipperton called at Juan Fernandez. In January 1719 Shelvocke in the 
“Speedwell” visited the island, remaining four days on this occasion, but he returned 
in May 1720, and having only one anchor left, foolishly anchored, and was caught in 
a gale on a lee shore when, his cable parting, he was obliged to beach his vessel; 
1 The true Pimento is not found in Juan Fernandez ; it was probably one of the species of Myrtus. 
