Friday, October 31, 2008

Robinson Crusoe's Campsite Found

Not Crusoe himself, since Crusoe was a fictional character, but the man upon whom Crusoe was based: Alexander Selkirk.

Selkirk was a member of an English privateering expedition that was charged with harassing Spanish shipping on the Pacific coast of America, and to capture the famed Manila Galleon, which woud result in a fortune for all who took part in the capture. Selkirk, a rather obnoxious individual, fell out with his captain and was put ashore on an island that is now part of the Juan Fernandez group, off the coast of Chile. Selkirk remained there for five years, hunting (and buggering) the native goat population. He was picked up by another privateer expedition captained by Woodes Rodgers.

Novelist and pamphleteer Daniel Defoe was inspired by Selkirk's adventures to write the novel Robinson Crusoe.

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