A Foot Thrown Thusly Does No Harm

Here is a footnote from Sketch Seventh of Melville’s The Encantadas:

“The American Spaniards have long been in the habit of making presents of islands to deserving individuals. The pilot Juan Fernandez procured a deed of the isle named after him, and for some years resided there before Selkirk came. It is supposed, however, that he eventually contracted the blues upon his princely property, for after a time he returned to the main, and as the report goes, became a very garrulous barber in the city of Lima.”