The story of Philip Ashton, who chose life on a desert island instead of piracy

Today, even children know that the Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk became the prototype of the protagonist of Daniel Defoe's novel "Robinson Crusoe". But there were many such cases at that time. One of the most famous was the story of the young fisherman Philip Ashton. The hero himself described his misadventures in the book Philip Ashton Memorial: A Story of Strange Adventures and Miraculous Rescue. She came out a little later than Defoe's novel, and therefore she was considered one of the many imitations.

A resident of Nova Scotia, Philip Ashton was a simple 19-year-old fisherman. In June 1722 he went fishing with four friends on the small schooner Milton. That day they were lucky with the catch, and the guys returned home with a full hold of fish. But they were attacked by pirates, led by the cruel robber Ned Low.

The pirate decided to replenish his team with young fishermen and put them before a choice - death or life under the Jolly Roger. Ashton really did not want to become a robber, but he knew well how cruelly Ned Low cracked down on prisoners. So he had to agree. But the guy decided to run if the right opportunity falls. Soon fate gave him such a chance.

Once a pirate sailboat anchored near the small tropical island of Roatan in the Gulf of Honduras. The team decided to stock up on drinking water and get wood to repair the ship. Philip disembarked with several crew members. While the pirates were filling barrels in the stream, he said that he would go into the forest to collect some coconuts. But as soon as the thickets closed behind Philip, he rushed to run as fast as he could.

The pirates were looking for Ashton, but he hid in a thicket and sat quietly until the ship left the waters of the island. The guy was in a much more difficult situation than the hero of Daniel Defoe. He had nothing with him but a small knife. Fortunately, the island of Roatan was rich in fresh water sources, and the jungle was full of fruit trees. On the beaches you could get turtle eggs, and if you were lucky, you could catch a turtle.

At the same time, it was difficult to call the paradise island. The forest was full of poisonous snakes and huge aggressive lizards. Also, wild boars roamed in the thickets, from which Philip had to escape in the trees. But the biggest problem for the hermit was insects. Hordes of blood-sucking midges clung to the unprotected parts of Philip's body and caused him unbearable suffering. Because of them, the sailor built a hut on the beach, in the hope that the sea wind would disperse the tormentors. But that didn't help much.

After 9 months, a boat moored to the island, in which there was a man with a dog. He told Ashton that he had escaped from Spanish captivity. With him, the new comrade had a gun, a supply of gunpowder and bullets, carpentry tools and some provisions. But Philip rejoiced at the fellowship for only a few days. Soon the man was going to hunt on a neighboring island. He invited Philip with him, but he prudently refused, since the path was not close, and the boat could hardly keep afloat.

The partner set sail, promising to return soon with prey. Philip never saw him again. Probably something happened to the fragile vessel and the man drowned. Ashton was alone again. But now he had tools and steel with which he could build a fire. Life became a little more fun - wild boars were afraid of fire, and Philip could no longer be afraid of them.

So another three months passed. One morning, Philip again saw a boat on the beach. At first he thought it was his comrade who had returned. But it turned out that it was a canoe made by the Indians. It contained nothing but an oar. After securing the vehicle, Ashton decided to explore the coastline. But on the other side of Roatan, he came across the Spaniards, who began to shoot at him. The guy barely blew his legs and no longer decided not to tempt fate and not go far from his beach.

After a year and a half of life on the island, Philip again had a company. Two boats with people landed on the shore. They were the British, who were surprised to meet a man on the island. But even more they were struck by the way he arranged his life. By this time, Ashton had built a spacious hut, which even had simple furniture. The sailors called the hermit's house the "Castle of Comfort".

English sailors were themselves victims of circumstance. Their ship was attacked by the Spaniards, and they managed to escape on boats. A few months later, the sailors decided to leave the island and sail to the mainland. Two remained with Ashton, determined not to risk their lives on the high seas. They made the right choice. After a while, a whole flotilla sailed to Roatan. These were English merchants sailing to trade in the West Indies.

The captain of one of the merchant ships turned out to be Philip Ashton's countryman. With him, the guy finally went home. He arrived in his hometown of Marblehead in June 1725, exactly three years after that ill-fated fishing trip. Returning to his family, Philip immediately sat down to write a book. Unfortunately, she was not successful.

His contemporaries considered The Philip Ashton Memorial: A Story of Strange Adventures and a Miraculous Rescue to be a fiction inspired by the best-selling novel Robinson Crusoe. Only many years later it became known that Ashton's memoirs were based on real events and documented life on a desert island.

Ashton was lucky that his island ended up in the tropics. The Russian Robinson Sergey Lisitsyn, who found himself alone on the shores of the harsh Sea of Okhotsk, had to endure much more difficult trials.