AustLit
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
This book tells the story of a French cabin boy, Narcisse Pelletier, and his life with the Uutaalnganu people of north-east Cape York from 1858 to 1875. Even though it is all but forgotten in Australia, and in France is known only in its broad outlines, Pelletier's story rivals that of the famous William Buckley, both as a tale of human survival and as an enthralling and accessible ethnographic record.
Narcisse Pelletier, from the village of Saint-Gilles-sur-Vie, was fourteen years old when the Saint-Paul was wrecked near Rossel Island off New Guinea in 1858. Leaving behind more than 300 Chinese labourers recruited for the Australian goldfields, believed to have been subsequently massacred by the Rossel Islanders, the ship's captain and crew, including the cabin boy, escaped in a longboat.
After a gruelling voyage across the Coral Sea, they landed near Cape Direction on Cape York, where Pelletier found himself abandoned when the boat sailed off without him. He was rescued by an Aboriginal family and remained with them as a member of their clan until 1875 when he was sighted by the crew of a pearling lugger. 'Rescued' against his will, Pelletier was conveyed to Sydney and then repatriated to France. (Publisher's blurb)
Narcisse Pelletier, from the village of Saint-Gilles-sur-Vie, was fourteen years old when the Saint-Paul was wrecked near Rossel Island off New Guinea in 1858. Leaving behind more than 300 Chinese labourers recruited for the Australian goldfields, believed to have been subsequently massacred by the Rossel Islanders, the ship's captain and crew, including the cabin boy, escaped in a longboat.
After a gruelling voyage across the Coral Sea, they landed near Cape Direction on Cape York, where Pelletier found himself abandoned when the boat sailed off without him. He was rescued by an Aboriginal family and remained with them as a member of their clan until 1875 when he was sighted by the crew of a pearling lugger. 'Rescued' against his will, Pelletier was conveyed to Sydney and then repatriated to France. (Publisher's blurb)
Notes
-
Launched at the University Co-Op Bookshop, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, by Dr Bronwen Douglas, 31 July 2009.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Untitled
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , vol. 34 no. 2010; (p. 336-342)
— Review of Pelletier : The Forgotten Castaway of Cape York 2009 single work biography -
Crossing Boundaries
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: History Australia , August vol. 7 no. 2 2010;
— Review of Pelletier : The Forgotten Castaway of Cape York 2009 single work biography -
France's Cape York Castaway
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 22 August 2009; (p. 14)
— Review of Pelletier : The Forgotten Castaway of Cape York 2009 single work biography
-
France's Cape York Castaway
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 22 August 2009; (p. 14)
— Review of Pelletier : The Forgotten Castaway of Cape York 2009 single work biography -
Crossing Boundaries
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: History Australia , August vol. 7 no. 2 2010;
— Review of Pelletier : The Forgotten Castaway of Cape York 2009 single work biography -
Untitled
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , vol. 34 no. 2010; (p. 336-342)
— Review of Pelletier : The Forgotten Castaway of Cape York 2009 single work biography
Last amended 24 Aug 2009 12:48:15
Subjects:
- Coral Sea, South Pacific, Pacific Region,
- Cape York Peninsula, Queensland,
- 1800-1899
Export this record