The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 15, February 18, 1897: A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls — John Shaqi
The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 15, February 18, 1897: A Weekly Magazine for Boys and GirlsVarious
History
The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 15, February 18, 1897: A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls
Various
History, Modern -- 19th century -- Juvenile literature -- Periodicals
This could be no other than the current from the mouth of the
great Orinoco River.
But what settles the matter is that after Crusoe had taught
Friday to speak English, he had a conversation with him, in
which Crusoe asks Friday:
"How far it was from our island to the shore, and whether the
canoes were not often lost. He told me there was no danger; no
canoes ever lost; but after a little way out to sea, there was a
current and wind always one way in the morning, the other in the
afternoon. This I understood to be no more than the sets of the
tide, as going out or coming in; but I afterward understood it
was occasioned by the great draft and reflux of the mighty river
Oroonoko, in the mouth of which river, as I thought afterwards,
our island lay; and that this land which I perceived to the
W.S.W. was the great island Trinidad."
I like your GREAT ROUND WORLD, Mr. Editor, but I like
Robinson Crusoe, too. I like to know just where he was cast
away, and hope if I am right you will tell other boys who read
"Robinson Crusoe" the true place, where Daniel Defoe describes
poor Crusoe as living all those weary years.
EDGAR B.
Aged twelve years.
CHICAGO, ILL.
MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND:
After the very careful work you have done on Robinson Crusoe, and the
evident affection you have for him, it seems a shame to have to tell you
that no such person as Crusoe existed.
As we told in THE GREAT ROUND WORLD, No. 11, a Scotchman named
Alexander Selkirk was put ashore on the island of Juan Fernandez, and
lived there four years and four months.
When he was rescued and brought back to England, he wrote an account of
his life there.
An English writer named Daniel Defoe saw this book of Selkirk's, and
thought it would make a wonderful story if it was well handled. Selkirk's
was a mere statement of what had happened to him, and while intensely
interesting, was not written to amuse people.
Defoe created an imaginary person, whom he called Robinson Crusoe, dressed
up Selkirk's facts to suit the purpose of his story, and wrote the
wonderful and undying story of Robinson Crusoe.
His geographical facts, no doubt, were purposely altered from Selkirk's,
and were made as graphic as possible, in order to add the semblance of
truth to his story. In the early years of the seventeenth century
geography was very little understood. The connection between Selkirk's
sufferings on Juan Fernandez, and the adventures of Robinson Crusoe have
always been so thoroughly understood that, as you read in your GREAT
ROUND WORLD, the island of Juan Fernandez has been called Crusoe's
Island, and Selkirk's cave and hut, Crusoe's. THE EDITOR.
EDITOR GREAT ROUND WORLD.
DEAR SIR:--Your article on salting streets has greatly
roused your subscriber, my small son.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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