Juan Fernandez (ho͝o-än′ fĕr-nän′ dĕth), a rocky island in the Pacific off the coast of Chile, to which it belongs. It is 13 miles long and four broad, and is covered for the most part with high, rocky peaks, the highest of which is about 3,000 feet above sea-level. There are many fertile valleys, which yield oats, apples, strawberries, peaches, figs and melons. Here Alexander Selkirk, a pirate, lived alone for four years. His story is supposed to have suggested Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. The island was discovered in 1583 by a Spaniard whose name it bears. There is a small Swiss colony.
