Vasquez, Moriz and Felipe

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Vasquez, Moriz, and Felipe were the three lighthousemen stationed at the Staten Island lighthouse by the Government of Argentina in Jules Verne's 1905 novel, Le Phare du bout du monde ("The Lighthouse at the End of the World").

Moriz and Felipe are murdered by a band of pirates several days after the despatch boat the Sante Fe leaves them at the lighthouse. Vasquez is the only survivor, and spends the several months until the Sante Fe returns surviving off the pirates' hidden stores of food in a hidden cave. After an American ship from Mobile, Alabama, the Century, crashes on the island due to the light being put out in the lighthouse, he bands with the sole survivor of the wreck to stop the pirates from escaping into the South Pacific. They manage to scavage a cannon from the wreckage, and shoot the Carcante, the pirates' ship, as it is about to leave the bay they are situated in. It only causes minor damage, however, and the pirates' carpenter is able to fix it in only a few days. The night before the ship is about to attempt to leave again, Vasquez swims to the Carcante at its mooring and plants a bomb in the rudder. This causes, yet again, only minor damage, and is fixed in only one day. The next day however, Carcante, the namesake of the pirate ship, spots the Sante Fe on the horizon. Fortunately for them, it will not arrive till night, and the Sante Fe can't possibly get into the bay without light from the lighthouse. This will give them the perfect chance to slip out and sail around the southern side of the island, which they know quite well by now. Vasquez and the survivor, however, kill the lighthouse guards and turn the light back on. The troop of pirates tries to regain the lighthouse and kill the two, but they find the bolted iron door to the staircase too reinforced to break down. Kongre, the band's leader, orders Carcante and the carpenter to climb the side of the lighthouse and murder them at the top. Vasquez and the survivor, however, shoot the two as soon as their heads peek over the banister. Kongre and the remaining pirates realize its all over for them, and flee to the interior of the island. Most surrender afterwards, a few starve, and Vasquez watches as Kongre commits suicide. Vasquez returns home with the Sante Fe after making sure the island is safe for the new lighthousemen.

[edit] See also

• Le Phare du bout du monde
• Kongre
• Carcante
• Jules Verne