Real Castaways Trivia Quiz

Answer: Robinson Crusoe

Selkirk has long been thought to be the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's fictional tale "Robinson Crusoe". In 1704 Selkirk was abandoned on the Juan Fernandez archipelago after his captain heard him attempting to get the crew to mutiny and telling them that they ship was not seaworthy. (It did later sink taking most of the sailors with it.) He was left alone for over 4 years on a small island in the Pacific with no human contact.

He had been given a musket with ammunition, clothing. a knife, a bible, and a few carpenters tools.

He was found in 1709 and a book was written about him and his ordeal. It is called "The Englishman". After a quick trip home he went back to sea. Selkirk died aboard ship of yellow fever in 1721.

Answer: Island of the Blue Dolphins

O'Dell's "Island of the Blue Dolphins" was based on Juana Maria. In 1811 Juana Maria and her people, the Nicolenos, were hired to assist Russian otter hunters. When the otters started to run out warfare between the two broke out. The Russians killed killed all but 7 of these Aleutian islanders.

When the schooner "Peor es Nada" came to the island in an heroic attempt to save the last of the Nicolenos, Juana Maria was inadvertently left behind. The "Peor es Nada" sank a month later in a storm and all the Nicolenos who had been saved from the island died of infectious diseases shortly after arrival at the local mission.

It was not until 1853 that Juana Maria was found. She had lived all this time alone and appeared to be well. No one knew what her real name was as no one could speak her language and so they christened her Juana Maria.

But like her brethren she died within 7 weeks of being taken off her island and brought to the mission. She succumbed to the European diseases to which she had no immunity.

Answer: He wrote a diary that was found after his death.

Leendert died on the island and his diary and his camp were found a few months later. He tells of drinking turtle blood and his own urine in an attempt to stay alive. His diary reflects his guilt and humbleness and speaks of the agony he was forced to endure.

His actual name was not made public until 2002 when Michiel Kiilbergen published his book entitled "Een Hollandse Robinson Crusoe", which translates as "A Dutch Robinson Crusoe".

Answer: Saint Helena

Lopez was a Portuguese sailor punished for converting to Islam and leading a rebellion. He had his ears and nose chopped off. His right hand and his left hand were also amputated. This happened in India. When on his way back to Portugal to face an uncertain future the ship he was on stopped at Saint Helena to replenish their water supply and to gather fresh fruits and vegetables. Lopez requested to be left behind so that he could hide his mulitation.

He was given minimal supplies and left to fend for himself. Occasionally, ships would stop by to replenish their water supplies and would leave him gifts of seeds and livestock.

He was soon looked at as a martyr by many. After ten years on the island, Lopez went home to Portugal, visited his family, the king, and the Pope. Lopez begged the Pope to absolve him of his sins and requested to be allowed to return to his island. Lopez returned to Saint Helena and lived in solitude on Saint Helena for another 20 years.

Answer: Canada

Ile des Demons or Island of Démons lies in the Gulf of St. Lawrence just off Quebec, Canada. Marguerite was a French noblewomen exiled for being 'indiscreet with a sailor'. The captain of the ship (her uncle) forced Marguerite, her maid, and the sailor off the ship for what he professed to be religious reasons.

In fact, if Marguerite died, her uncle was to inherit her fortune. Two years later she was rescued by an unnamed ship and returned to France. The Queen of Navarre wrote about her in her book "Heptameron".

Her story is an example of how not all castaways are on tropical desert islands and not all castaways were male.

Answer: A message in a bottle

The Japanes man Chunosuke Matsuyama and 43 of his crew mates became castaways when their ship sank in a storm and the survivors swam to a small coral reef. There was no fresh water and the sailors slowly died off. Their story came to light when a bottle washed up on the shore of Chunosuke Matsuyama's home village over 500 miles away and 150 years later.

Inside were pieces of wood in which he had carved the tragic story of his death and that of his compatriots. He had put the pieces of wood in bottle that had washed up on the reef, put a stopper in the bottle, and threw it back into the sea.

It floated in the Pacific for over 150 years.

Answer: "Survive the Savage Sea"

Dougal Robertson and his family spent 38 days afloat in the Pacific after a pod of killer whales sank their schooner. They survived by collecting rain water and catching fish. Their boat sank about 200 miles west of the Galapagos Islands and they were found almost 800 miles away. All survived.

Answer: The Bounty

The ship was The Bounty, and the captain was William Bligh. Of the 50 or so crew members half mutinied and half stayed loyal to the captain. The captain managed to sail his tiny lifeboat 3,600 miles to the island of Timor using only a sextant and pocket watch. All but three sailors survived. In 1916 the very first movie about the "Mutiny on the Bounty" was filmed.

Answer: false

While a wonderful novel to read, this book was not based on any actual occurrence. It was simply a novel that reflected the very real fear that many Englishmen had about being sent to Australia, and the long dangerous voyage to get there.

Answer: The sailors of the Isabella stole his ship

After Captain Charles Barnard saved the crew of the sinking Isabella, he stopped at a small island in the Falkland Islands to try to get more provisions for everyone who was now on his ship. While the Captain and four of his crew were ashore, in an act of complete treachery, the sailors that he had just saved stole his ship and left the five men on this desert island.

They were found by chance two years later. Today, you are able to tour Eagle Island where they will show you the stone shelters built by Captain Barnard and his men while they awaited rescue.