Narrative of a Voyage to the South Seas, and the Shipwreck of the Princess of Wales Cutter - With an Account of Two Years' Residence on an Uninhabited Island #244822

Whatever interest may be found in the following pages, will be derived principally from a plain unvarnished tale, simply told. It is not offered to the public as a work of literary refinement, or poetical flight; as a chapter of horrors to affright the timid, or a pleasing fiction to amuse the thoughtless; but as a Narrative of Facts. Since the adventures of Alexander Selkirk, on which De Foe founded his truly moral, and deservedly admired, fiction of "Robinson Crusoe," there has not been on record, I believe, an instance of a period of near two years being spent by any European on an Uninhabited and Desert Island. This simple fact will perhaps obtain for this Narrative some interest with the general reader. As a work of instruction, it is hoped it will not be wholly destitute of merit, containing as it does information relative to the natural productions of such a remote and insulated spot. To the moralist it will afford some matter for sober thought; to the believer in a wise and all-ruling Power, it will give a renewed source of consolation, derived from additional proofs of His Almighty care and providence: - to those who advocate and lend their aid to that most valuable of institutions, the Bible Society, it will afford an additional incentive, if such were wanted, for renewed exertions for the spread of the Sacred Volume, particularly among mariners - for in this Narrative the words of Scripture were most fully verified, that such "bread cast upon the waters, shall be found after many days." To none, I trust, will this work be found offensive; for where praise could not brighten the page, the finger of silence has either arrested the pen, or charity has blotted out the stain.