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Issue Details: First known date: 2009... 2009 Pelletier : The Forgotten Castaway of Cape York
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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)

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 Fiona Powell , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , vol. 34 no. 2010; (p. 336-342)

— Review of Pelletier : The Forgotten Castaway of Cape York Stephanie Anderson , 2009 single work biography
Crossing Boundaries Leigh Boucher , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: History Australia , August vol. 7 no. 2 2010;

— Review of Pelletier : The Forgotten Castaway of Cape York Stephanie Anderson , 2009 single work biography
France's Cape York Castaway Ian Warden , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 22 August 2009; (p. 14)

— Review of Pelletier : The Forgotten Castaway of Cape York Stephanie Anderson , 2009 single work biography
France's Cape York Castaway Ian Warden , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 22 August 2009; (p. 14)

— Review of Pelletier : The Forgotten Castaway of Cape York Stephanie Anderson , 2009 single work biography
Crossing Boundaries Leigh Boucher , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: History Australia , August vol. 7 no. 2 2010;

— Review of Pelletier : The Forgotten Castaway of Cape York Stephanie Anderson , 2009 single work biography
Untitled Fiona Powell , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , vol. 34 no. 2010; (p. 336-342)

— Review of Pelletier : The Forgotten Castaway of Cape York Stephanie Anderson , 2009 single work biography
Last amended 24 Aug 2009 12:48:15
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