Editing Alexander Selkirk (section)

==Later life and influence==
[[File:Robinson svensk1732.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.65|alt=Engraving of Robinson Crusoe standing on the shore of an island, dressed in hair-covered goatskin clothing|An illustration of [[Robinson Crusoe|Crusoe]] in goatskin clothing shows the influence of Selkirk]]
Selkirk's experience as a castaway aroused a great deal of attention in Britain. His fellow crewman Edward Cooke mentioned Selkirk's ordeal in a book chronicling their privateering expedition, ''[[A Voyage to the South Sea, and Round the World|A Voyage to the South Sea and Round the World]]'' (1712). A more detailed recounting was published by the expedition's leader, Rogers, within months.{{sfnp|Rogers|1712|pp=124–125}} The following year, prominent essayist [[Richard Steele]] wrote an article about him for ''The Englishman'' newspaper. Selkirk appeared set to enjoy a life of ease and celebrity, claiming his share of ''Duke''{{'s}} plundered wealth—about £800{{sfnp|Steele|1713|p=173}} (equivalent to £{{Inflation|UK|800|1713|r=-4|fmt=c}} today).<ref>{{cite web|last=Clark|first=Gregory|title=The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present|url=http://www.measuringworth.com/ukearncpi/|website=MeasuringWorth|date=2016|access-date=13 March 2016}}</ref> However, legal disputes made the amount of any payment uncertain.{{sfnp|Souhami|2001|pp=180–181}}

After a few months in [[London]], he began to seem more like his former self again.{{sfnp|Steele|1713|p=173}} However, he still missed his secluded and solitary moments, remarking, "I am now worth eight hundred pounds, but shall never be as ''happy'' as when I was not worth a [[Farthing (British coin)|farthing]]."<ref>Howell (1829) chap.V, p.127, 129</ref> In September 1713, he was charged with assaulting a [[shipwright]] in [[Bristol]] and might have been kept in confinement for two years.{{sfnp|Lee|1987|p=399|ps=; cf. [[#CITEREFSouhami2001|Souhami (2001)]], p.&nbsp;186, "He did not show up for the hearing. He moved to the obscurity of London for some months, then went home to Largo."}} He returned to [[Lower Largo]], where he met Sophia Bruce, a young dairymaid. They eloped to London early and married on 4 March 1717. He was soon off to sea again, having enlisted in the [[Royal Navy]].{{sfnp|Souhami|2001|pp=190–192}} While on a visit to [[Plymouth]] in 1720, he married a widowed innkeeper named Frances Candis.{{sfnp|Souhami|2001|pp=201–202}} He was serving as an [[officer]]<ref>Howell (1829) chap. V, p. 135</ref> on board {{HMS|Weymouth|1693|6}}, engaged in an anti-[[Golden Age of Piracy#The post-Spanish-Succession period|piracy]] patrol off the west coast of Africa. The ship arrived near the mouth of the [[River Gambia]] in March 1721 and lingered due to damage from bad weather. The locals took several crew hostage and ransomed them for "gold and food."{{Sfnp|Souhami|2001|p=203}} As the ship sailed down the coast of [[West Africa]], men went into the forests to cut wood and began to contract [[yellow fever]] from the swarms of mosquitoes, and perhaps [[Typhoid fever|typhoid]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Magazine |first=Smithsonian |title=The Real Robinson Crusoe |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-real-robinson-crusoe-74877644/ |access-date=2024-12-31 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> Four died in June and, by September, "so many men were dying a makeshift hospital was erected on shore" near [[Cape Coast Castle]].{{Sfnp|Souhami|2001|p=204}} Selkirk became sick in November with the same symptoms as his crewmates. He died on 13 December 1721 along with shipmate William King, and both were [[buried at sea]]; three more died the following day.{{sfnp|Souhami|2001|pp=203–205}}<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2534427 |title=Masters' logs, including: Weymouth (1718/19 Mar 3 - 1719 Nov 6). / Weymouth (1719/20 Feb 18 - 1722 Apr 25). / Windsor (1719/20 Jan 27 - 1720 Dec 7). / Windsor (1721 May 11 - 1721/2 Feb 10) |date=1719–1722 |language=en |via=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)]]}}</ref>

When [[Daniel Defoe]] published ''[[Robinson Crusoe|The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe]]'' (1719), few readers could have missed the resemblance to Selkirk. An illustration on the first page of the novel shows "a rather melancholy-looking man standing on the shore of an island, gazing inland", in the words of the modern explorer [[Tim Severin]]. He is dressed in the familiar hirsute goatskins, his feet and shins bare.{{sfnp|Severin|2002|p=11}} Yet Crusoe's island is located not in the [[mid-latitudes]] of the South Pacific but {{convert|4300|km|mi|-2|abbr=on}} away in the [[Caribbean Sea|Caribbean]], where the furry attire would hardly be comfortable in the [[tropical climate|tropical]] heat. This incongruity supports the popular belief that Selkirk was a model for the fictional character,{{sfnp|Severin|2002|p=17}} but most literary scholars now accept that he was "just one of many survival narratives that Defoe knew about".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/09/robinson-crusoe-alexander-selkirk-history/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928201018/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/09/robinson-crusoe-alexander-selkirk-history/|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 September 2016|title=Debunking the Myth of the 'Real' Robinson Crusoe|work=National Geographic|author=Little, Becky|date=28 September 2016|access-date=30 September 2016}}</ref>