ecimen of a species of sandalwood
which, wonderful to relate, has found its way hither from its home in
Asia. A couple of hundred years ago it grew profusely on the island, but
now it has been nearly exterminated by man's cupidity. The red, strongly
scented wood was too much in demand for fine cabinet work and other
purposes. Only one small branch now produces foliage on the last
sandal-tree. In this case it is not the last tree among many, but the
last specimen of a species which is vanishing from the earth.

In a cave at the foot of a mountain, according to tradition, lived
Robinson Crusoe, and from a saddle in the crest he threw longing, eager
glances over the great ocean. A memorial tablet in the cave relates that
the real Crusoe, a Scotch sailor named Selkirk, lived alone on the
island for four years and four months in the years 1704-1709. He went on
shore of his own accord, being dissatisfied with the officers of the
ship to which he belonged. The climate was mild, the rainfall moderate,
and wild goats and edible fruits served him for food.

Such is the actual fact. How much more do we delight in the Robinson
Crusoe whose story is so charmingly depicted in a romantic dress! His
vessel foundered, and he was the only man who was thrown up by the
stormy waves upon the island. There he made himself at home, wandered
round the shore and through the woods, and filled a shooting-bag of
banana leaves with oysters, turtle's eggs, and wild fruits. With his
simple bow he shot the animals of the forest to make himself clothes of
their skins, and wild goats, which he caught and tamed, yielded him
milk, from which he churned butter and manufactured cheese. He became a
fisherman, furrier, and potter, and on the height above his cave he had
his chapel where he kept Sundays. He found wild maize, and sowed,
reaped, and made bread. As years passed on, his prosperity increased,
and he was a type of the whole human race, which from the rude
simplicity of the savage has in the course of ages progressed to a
condition of refinement and enlightenment. When he was most at a loss
for fire to prepare his food, the lightning struck a tree and set it on
fire, and we remember that he then kept up his fire for a long time,
never letting it go out. He was very grieved when it at length expired,
but a volcanic outbreak came to his assistance, and he lighted his fire
again from the glowing lava. He made himself a bread oven of bricks,
and built h