But I have read
"Robinson Crusoe," and the island as described by him cannot be
the Island of Juan Fernandez, but must be one of the Windward
Islands in the Caribbean Sea, off the mouth of the great Orinoco
River in South America, and I think is the Island of Tobago;
this best fits the careful description of Daniel Defoe.
In Crusoe's first exploration of the island he says:
"I came in view of the sea to the west, and it being a very
clear day, I fairly descried land,... extending from the W. to
the W.S.W.... It could not be less than fifteen or twenty
leagues off."
There is no land situated W.S.W. from Juan Fernandez. W.S.W.
from the island of Tobago lies the great island of Trinidad.
When Crusoe attempts to sail around the island he says:
"I perceived a strong and most furious current."
This could be no other than the current from the mouth of the
great Orinoco River.
But what settles the matter is that after Crusoe had taught
Friday to speak English, he had a conversation with him, in
which Crusoe asks Friday:
"How far it was from our island to the shore, and whether the
canoes were not often lost.
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