1652-1715. English explorer and hydrographic 
surveyor who circumnavigated the world three 
times. He was born in Somerset, and went to 
sea in 1668. He led a life of buccaneering
adventure, circumnavigated the globe, and
published his New Voyage Round the World in
1697. In 1699 he was sent by the government
on a voyage to Australia and New Guinea, and
again circled the world. He accomplished a
third circumnavigation 1703-07, and on his
final voyage 1708-11 rescued Alexander
Selkirk (on whose life Defoe's Robinson
Crusoe is based) from Juan Fernandez in the S
Pacific.