Perseverance Island; Or, The Robinson Crusoe of the Nineteenth Century
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THE MANUSCRIPT.
PERSEVERANCE ISLAND, SOUTH PACIFIC.
_To the Person who shall find this Manuscript_, GREETING,--
I hope that in the mercy of God these lines may come to the hands of some of my fellow-creatures, and that such action may be taken as may be deemed best to inform the world of my fate and that of my unfortunate comrades; if the finder will, therefore, cause the accompanying account to be published, he will confer a lasting benefit upon his humble servant,
ROBINSON CRUSOE, Otherwise called WILLIAM ANDERSON.
Everybody must remember the setting out of the schooner "Good Luck"from the Liverpool docks, England, in the summer of 1865, with theadvance guard of a colony to be established in the Southern Pacific, onone or more of its numerous islands to be selected; and from that dayto this, the non-reception of any news of her from her day of sailing.
I am the only survivor of that ill-fated vessel, and record here, inhopes that the manuscript may reach the eyes of those interested, allthe facts of the case, and pray that they will speedily send to myrelief some vessel to take me home, and permit me once more to gazeupon the faces of my fellow-men before I die.