So Alvarenga answered for his dead sea mate. “What is death like?”Įzequiel Córdoba, his body hardening and turning purple, did not reply. In 1977, a yacht found him ill, and took him back to Rarotonga where he died of stomach cancer eight months later.“Buenos dias,” Salvador Alvarenga said to his friend, who was propped up in the bow of their fishing boat. His last stint at the island started in 1967 and lasted 10 years. He returned in 1960 for another four years, leaving again once pearl divers began to invade the area. He married and had two kids, but could never stop dreaming of his island. He was getting along well, actually, until May 1954 when he hurt his back and hitched a ride to Rarotonga, the largest Cook Island, to seek medical attention. Neale proceeded to hunt and eat the pigs, and domesticate the chickens. The island had been uninhabited since WWII, but the people who lived there before had left chickens and pigs. A boat passing by Suwarrow Island in the South Pacific agreed to drop him off there, along with two cats and as many supplies as he could carry. This nutty New Zealander went out and voluntarily marooned himself on one of the Cook Islands in October 1952. He wanted nothing more than to be on his island. Most castaways are pretty excited when they get back home. Ada eventually returned to the Arctic where she lived until the age of 85.Ī beach on Rarotonga, the largest Island in the Cook Islands. 19, 1923, she was rescued by a man hired by the former head of the expedition who had left her and Knight there, Vilhjalmur Stefansson. Then, for five months she survived by herself, trapping Arctic foxes and shooting birds, seals, even polar bears. The three were never seen again, but Ada cared for Knight until his death in April 1923. Three of the other men set out across the ice to look for help on the mainland, leaving Ada and the ailing Lorne Knight behind. Their rations petered out and hunting was difficult. She was meant to be their cook and seamstress, but things got real bad real quick. That's what happened to Ada Blackjack, an Innuit woman who accompanied a group of men on their mission to claim Siberia's Wrangel Island for Canada in 1921. Think being shipwrecked is tough? Try being shipwrecked in Siberia. She told her story to the Queen of Navarre, which is how we know about it today. Ultimatley, she became a schoolmistress, and settled in Nontron, France, living in Chateau de La Mothe pictured above.Īda Blackjack, circa 1920. All said, she was probably marooned for around two years. She survived by hunting game and living in a cave until she was rescued by Basque fishermen and taken back to France. It's unclear exactly how long Marguerite survived, but long enough to get pregnant, have a baby, watch her baby and her lover die. They were marooned on the “Isle of Demons” (now called Harrington Island) near the Saint-Paul River in Quebec. Her uncle, apparently taking the moral high ground, booted them both off the ship. During the voyage, Marguerite began sleeping with another man. Marguerite de La Rocque, then 19, and her uncle were among those who accompanied him. In 1542, French explorer Jacques Cartier led a voyage to Newfoundland. Historic Chateau de la Mothe near Nontron in France, where Marguerite de La Roque lived. A nearby island that he likely never set foot upon has been christened Alexander Selkirk. Today, the island he lived on has been renamed Robinson Crusoe (pictured above). He built a couple huts and munched on wild turnips. In the meantime, he ate feral goats and steered clear of sea lions in heat. four years and four months later a friendly ship finally crossed his path (two Spanish ships showed up before then, but he didn't trust them). The captain left him ashore with some clothing, a musket, some tools, a Bible and tobacco.Īt first, he sat and read his Bible, pretty sure another ship would be by soon. Selkirk thought the ship was in bad shape and said he'd rather be left on Juan Fernandez than continue on in a vessel that wasn't seaworthy. George when it stopped at the archipelago of Juan Fernandez, west of Chile. In October 1704, Selkirk was on the crew of a ship called St. So the real-life Robinson Crusoe was most likely a Scottish man by the name of Alexander Selkirk, who did fend for himself on a deserted island for four years but who also wound up there more of his own volition than as a result of any shipwreck.
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