Alexander Selkirk

Alexander Selkirk was born in 1676, an unruly Scottish youth who turned to privateering during the War of the Spanish Succession. Sailing under William Dampier's command aboard the Cinque Ports, captained by Thomas Stradling, Selkirk grew convinced the vessel was dangerously unseaworthy when they stopped at the uninhabited Juan Fernández Islands, west of South America. He asked to be left behind — and was. His instinct proved right: Cinque Ports sank near Malpelo Island months later. Selkirk spent four years and four months alone, learning to hunt and survive on what the island offered, until…