Marooning

Marooning is the intentional act of abandoning a person in an uninhabited area. This often occurred on a remote desert island. It served as a severe form of punishment for crew members. It was also used by crews against captains during a mutiny. A mutiny is when a crew rebels against their leader. This practice was a way to exile someone from society.

The mechanism of marooning followed a specific and harsh pattern. A person was typically left on a deserted island. Sometimes the location was merely a sand bar that disappeared at low tide. The condemned person was often provided with very basic supplies. These supplies included some food and a container of water. They were also frequently given a loaded pistol. This allowed them to commit suicide if they chose to do so. While many people died, survival was possible if they found a way to escape.

Different groups used marooning for various social reasons. In the 17th and 18th centuries, pirates were the primary practitioners. They were so well known for this that they were called "marooners." Pirate captains like Bartholomew Roberts and John Phillips had written rules called articles. These articles listed marooning as a penalty for crimes like cheating fellow pirates. To make the punishment sound less harsh, pirates used a euphemism. They claimed the person was being "made governor of an island."

The word marooning has a complex linguistic history. The term "maroon" was attested in the year 1699. It likely comes from the Spanish word "cimarrón." In the 16th and 17th centuries, this English term meant a household animal that had run wild. This Spanish word may have originated from the Taino word "símaran." This word means "wild" and is related to "símara," which means an arrow.

History records several notable instances of marooning across different centuries. In 1520, Juan de Cartagena and Pedro Sánchez de la Reina were marooned. In 1542, Marguerite de La Rocque was left behind, though she was rescued in 1544. In 1629, Wouter Loos and Jan Pelgrom de Bye were marooned from the Batavia. In 1725, a Dutch sailor named Leendert Hasenbosch was left on Ascension Island. He was punished for sodomy and likely died of thirst that year. His diary was later found by British sailors and published in London.

One of the most famous historical cases involved Alexander Selkirk. He was a sailor with the Dampier expedition in 1704. Selkirk worried that his ship, the Cinque Ports, was not seaworthy. He argued with his captain until he was left on Juan Fernández Island. The ship eventually sank, and most of the crew were lost. Selkirk lived on the island for four years before Woodes Rogers rescued him. His survival provided inspiration for the famous novel "Robinson Crusoe." Today, the islands near Chile are named after him and the character Robinson Crusoe.

Other documented cases show the varying lengths of survival. In 1807, Robert Jeffery was marooned on Sombrero island by Captain Warwick Lake. Jeffery was an impressed seaman, which means he was forced into service. He was rescued only eight days later by an American vessel called the schooner Adams. Following this event, a court martial dismissed Lake from the Royal Navy. In a much different context, the term "marooning" was used humorously in the southern United States during the late 18th century. In that region, it described an extended camping picnic lasting several days.

Marooning continues to appear in modern culture and experiments. In literature, Robert Louis Stevenson included the character Ben Gunn in "Treasure Island." Ben Gunn was left marooned on an island for three years. In 2012, Ed Stafford performed a modern version of this act. He marooned himself on an uninhabited island near Fiji for 60 days. He took no food, water, or equipment, except for cameras. He filmed the ordeal for the Discovery Channel. He later wrote a book called "Naked and Marooned" about the psychological effects of the experience.