Alexander Selkirk's experience as a castaway had…

1713 CE

Alexander Selkirk's experience as a castaway had aroused a great deal of attention in Britain. His fellow crewman Edward Cooke mentions Selkirk's ordeal in a book chronicling their privateering expedition, A Voyage to the South Sea and Round the World (1712). A more detailed recounting had been published by the expedition's leader, Woodes Rogers, within months. The following year, prominent essayist Richard Steele writes an article about him for The Englishman newspaper. Selkirk appears set to enjoy a life of ease and celebrity, claiming his share of Duke's plundered wealth—about £800 (equivalent to £140,000 today). However, legal disputes make the amount of any payment uncertain 

After a few months in London, he had begun to seem more like his former self again. However, he still misses his secluded and solitary moments, remarking, "I am now worth eight hundred pounds, but shall never be as happy as when I was not worth a farthing."

Charged with assaulting a shipwright in Bristol, Selkirk might have been kept in confinement for two years.

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Alexander Selkirk View → William Dampier View → Woodes Rogers View →

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