Will (probably born in the 1650s or 1660s) was a

Miskito Miskito may refer to: * Miskito people, ethnic group in Honduras and Nicaragua ** Miskito Sambu, branch of Miskito people with African admixture ** Tawira Miskito, branch of Miskito people of largely Indigenous origin * Miskito language, original la ...

pirate from the Misquito Coast, then part of the

Spanish Main During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the Spanish Main was the collective term used by English speakers for the parts of the Spanish Empire that were on the mainland of the Americas and had coastlines on the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of ...

. He was

left behind ''Left Behind'' is a multimedia franchise of apocalyptic fiction written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, released by Tyndale House Publishers from 1995 to 2007. The bestselling premillennial novels are Christian eschatological narrat ...

on the

uninhabited The list of uninhabited regions includes a number of places around the globe. The list changes year over year as human beings migrate into formerly uninhabited regions, or migrate out of formerly inhabited regions. Definitions The exact def ...

Robinson Crusoe Island Robinson Crusoe Island (, ) is the second largest of the Juan Fernández Islands, situated 670 km (362 nmi; 416 mi) west of San Antonio, Chile, San Antonio, Chile, in the South Pacific Ocean. It is the more populous of the inhabit ...

(today part of

Insular Chile Insular Chile, also called ''Las islas Esporádicas'', or "the Sporadic Islands", is a scattered group of oceanic islands of volcanic origin located in the South Pacific, and which are under the sovereignty of Chile. The islands lie on the N ...

), surviving there alone for more than three years. It is possible that Will became the inspiration for

Man Friday Friday is one of the main characters of Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel ''Robinson Crusoe'' and its sequel '' The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe''. Robinson Crusoe names the man Friday, with whom he cannot at first communicate, because they fir ...

, the cannibal character in

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, merchant and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translati ...

's novel ''

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' ( ) is an English adventure novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. Written with a combination of Epistolary novel, epistolary, Confessional writing, confessional, and Didacticism, didactic forms, the ...

''.

In English service

As with other Miskitos, Will resisted the Spanish encroachment on their lands, and consequently allied with English pirates operating in the region. In 1680, he and several other Misquitos went on board an English vessel under the command of

John Watling John, or George, Watling (died 1681) was a 17th-century England, English buccaneer.Esquemeling, John. ''The Buccaneers of America''. Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1893, pp. 388-413. It was said that he would never plunder on the Sabbath in Christiani ...

. The English gave names to the Miskitos, and he ended up with the name Will. At the end of that year, the English decided to refresh their supplies on the largest of the uninhabited

Juan Fernández Islands The Juan Fernández Islands () are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic islands: Robinson Crusoe Island, R ...

. On 1 January 1681, while Will was hunting for goats in the island's interior, his comrades suddenly departed without him after having seen Spanish ships approaching in the horizon.

Castaway life

According to

William Dampier William Dampier (baptised 5 September 1651; died March 1715) was an English explorer, pirate, privateer, navigator, and naturalist who became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia, and the first person to circumnavig ...

's book ''

A New Voyage Round the World ''A New Voyage Round the World'' is an autobiographical account by William Dampier of his journeys around the world, first published in 1697. Dampier is believed to have written the account following his return to England, in between further, sho ...

'', Will started his life with

"his Gun and a Knife, with a small Horn of Powder, and a few Shot; which being spent, he contrived a way by notching his Knife, to saw the Barrel of his Gun into small Pieces, wherewith he made Harpoons, Lances, Hooks and a long Knife; heating the pieces first in the fire, which he struck with his Gunflint, and a piece of the Barrel of his Gun, which he hardened; having learnt to do that among the English."

In the beginning Will killed and ate

seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

but later he only killed seals "but to make ishingLines, cutting their Skins into Thongs." According to the account of William Dampier, the only first-hand source of information on Will, Will was seen by Spanish landing parties a number of times, but was never captured. Will was rescued by an English party under the command of Dampier on 22 March 1684, and he is recorded to have, upon being reached by the rescuers, immediately killed three goats and served them up in the English style, with cabbage.

Connections to ''Robinson Crusoe''

One of the first writers to connect the story of Will in Dampier to ''Robinson Crusoe'' was

Thomas Roscoe Thomas Roscoe (Liverpool 23 June 1791 – 24 September 1871 London) was an English author and translator. Life The fifth son of William Roscoe, he was born in Toxteth, Toxteth Park, Liverpool in 1791, and educated by Dr. W. Shepherd and by ...

, in his 1831 annotated edition of Defoe's text.

(ed.

) ''Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, with a biographical sketch of Defoe'' (2 vols., London, 1831) 2: 310-15.

Footnotes

References

*Edward E. Leslie (1988), Edward E. ''Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls'' 1988 *Dampier, William (1906) ''A Voyage to New Holland,1699-1701.'' *Woodland, Jr., Ralph Lee (1969) ''Robinson Crusoe's Island: A History of the Juan Fernández Islands''

External links

Readings on castaways
by Lilia Melani, CUNY. Melani also mentions the contemporary sources about the "real Robinson Crusoe", the Scottish mariner

Alexander Selkirk Alexander Selkirk (167613 December 1721) was a Scottish privateer and Royal Navy officer who spent four years and four months as a castaway (1704–1709) after being marooned by his captain, initially at his request, on an uninhabited island ...

who stayed utterly alone on the same island some twenty years later. {{DEFAULTSORT:Will, Indian 17th-century pirates Castaways Miskito people Privateers Robinson Crusoe Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Maritime folklore Piracy in the Caribbean Piracy in the Pacific Ocean