Pedro Serrano

Pedro Luis Serrano, also referred to as Pedro de Serrano, was a 16th century Spanish sailor who was allegedly marooned for seven to eight years on a small desert island. Details of the story differ, but the most common version has him shipwrecked on a small island in the Caribbean off the coast of Nicaragua, sometime in the 1520s. Serrano survived by eating shrimp, cockles, and other animals he found washed up on the shore, and by collecting drinking water in sea turtle shells when it rained. When rainwater was unavailable, he also drank the blood of the turtles he had captured.

The name Serrana Bank first appears on a Dutch map of 1545. Other versions place the events in the Pacific, off the coast of Peru, as late as the 1540s. There is some doubt about the historicity of the tale. The earliest known source is Garcilaso de la Vega's Comentarios Reales de los Incas (1609).

In literature Serrana Bank, an atoll in the Caribbean Sea, may have been the island on which Pedro de Serrano was stranded. Serrano's story has been heavily adapted and retold since the 17th century. One such work is the comedic poem Etiquette, written in the 19th century by the librettist W. S. Gilbert, which heavily adapts Serrano's story as a satire of Victorian era social customs. In the poem, Serrano and his island companion are two English businessmen named "Peter Gray" and "Somers", who are stranded on a desert island when their ship, the Ballyshannon, is "foundered off the coast of Cariboo". Despite their situation, the two men refuse to speak to each other, not having been formally introduced. They decide without discussion to divide the island between them. However, they soon discover that Gray's portion of the island is rich in oysters, which Gray cannot eat, whilst Somers' portion is rich in turtles, which Somers cannot eat. Whilst the two men could easily switch sides, they refuse to discuss this with one another, as this would be socially improper.

One day, Gray overhears Somers musing about his friend Robinson, with whom Gray reveals he has a mutual friendship, which finally allows the two men to speak. They eventually become very close friends. After many years on the island, Gray and Somers see a vessel in the distance. However, they discover that it is in fact a convict ship, and when a boat comes to pick them up, they refuse rescue, being unwilling to associate themselves with convicts. Also, they are horrified to discover that none other than their mutual friend, Robinson, is pulling the oar, and they learn that Robinson had been convicted for "misappropriating stock". Gray and Somers, completely embarrassed about having made friends with someone who is associated with a criminal, revert to not speaking to one another. They divide the island once more, alone and unable to eat the food they find on shore.