Sailing by Starlight : In Search of Treasure Island

by Capus, Alex

• ISBN13: 9781906598785
• ISBN10: 1906598789
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-03-01
• Publisher: Haus Pub

Summary

Capus takes us on an exploratory journey via the loss of a Spanish vessel laden with goldand jewels in the South Seas, the burial of treasure, an ancient map, and a long and dangerousvoyage across the Pacific, to prove that Robert Louis Stevenson's ‘treasure island'actually exists; and that it exists in a place quite different from where hordes of treasure-hunters have been seeking it for generations. In fact, he posits, it was for this reasonalone that Stevenson spent the last five years of his life in Samoa. On a long trip roundthe Pacific islands with the idea of writing articles for American periodicals, Stevenson,travelling with his beloved wife, Fanny, and stepson Lloyd Osbourne, had no notion ofstopping at Samoa when their ship made landfall in December 1889. Yet, only six weekslater, at the age of 39, he would invest all his available assets in a patch of impenetrablejungle and spend the rest of his life there. This book traces what led Stevenson to Samoaand the origins of his famous story. For facing him from this unlikely spot was anotherisland - a conical isle, Tafahi, where legends abound, and it was, Capus suggests, this islethat would cause him to change the course of his life.