"No, the scene of the romance lies on the Atlantic side, somewhere near the mouth of the Orinoco; but it is probable that De Foe got the idea from the story of a Scotchman who lived three years on this island."
"O yes," said I, "I remember the soliloquy of this Selkirk that I used to read and declaim at the country school,
"'I am Monarch of all I survey.'
Then I suppose this Selkirk story is really true, is it?"
"Yes, there is no good reason to doubt it. He was taken off the island by the English circumnavigator, Rogers, in 1709, if I remember right."
"Is there any one living on it now?" I asked.
"I don't know. There was no one there the last visit I made to it. But I have heard since that the Chilian government made use of it as a penal settlement, or something of the kind. But we shall not probably land there. What we want is a good haul of fresh fish, and this is just the place to find it. We must muster all the fishing-lines in the ship; the old man has got plenty of hooks; and, by the way, I want you in the morning to get an iron hoop from the cooper and net it across with ropeyarn ('Cooper' will know just what I want), to catch some crawfish."
"What sort of fish are they?" asked I.
"Why, they are a species of the lobster family, and fully equal to any of our lobsters in flavor."