Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-09-24
The Remarkable Adventures of Louis
de Rougemont.
i CANTAWAY ON A LONELY SAND BAR
Lived for Thirty Years as King of a
Man-Eating Tribe.
HOME TO FRANCE AT LAST


Crrsae - who returned to France a short time ag1
mere than thirty years after the time when he rs
story. the most remarkable of modern times has
Mini the eminent geogra piers who have nvesti-
gated IL and satisfied Of its perfect accuracy.
n le Rargerout attracts n great deal of attention
wherever he appears. and has received any number
Of nvitariopC To- address ge"g. aphictl and scien-
fife societies Last week Re apIeared before the
Bristol Of The British Association for the
Advancement OF Science tn" titlr Of the modern
Robinson CTuS"e. which has been generally TllcCG
upon him. Is In 40 way misn1Tcr. for the weird
and remarkable experiences which h. has been
through have never been eluaied since Defoe wrote
the story Of his tamITs herp.
The following stat, IN, nj the FIRST account that
VI. de RGu=cm"ut las given Of his experiences. anl
the story that he related TO the British sci
entists. the trIth Of which has been carefully
yerifedJ
In the wear 1863 left nome a mere youth
and engaged in a pearl-fishing venture on
beard the Dutch schooner Veiland. Our
pearlinG grounds lay between the Aus
traIian coast and Dutch New Guinea. After
about ten months the vessel was wrecked
on a small coral island situated about II
degrees south AID 125 degrees east. off the
northwest coast of Australia. l was abso-
lUtely alone. save that l had the captains
dog with HE. On this island. or, rather.
sand spit. 1 lived for two years. and under
went much suffering. At the end of that
time a party of blacks who had been
blown out to sea from the Australian main.
were cast upon the island on a native raft,
such as is used in ifs hing expeditions. Al.
ter a further period of six months waiting
for favorable winds we set out together
In a boat built from the wreck of the
schooner. ana l landed with my Compa Mons
on the coast of Australia in the year 1SGti--
the extct locality was Cambridge gulf, on
the northwest coast. of course. / made
many excursions in various directions. al
ways with the hope Of reaching civilization
either overland OF 10y sea. Evidently. how
ever. l drtfted Tito the center Of the con-
tInent, and only reached civilization III 1867
after an exile Of upward of thirty years.
When / first LANDED en- the Australian main
II may lie necessary to bear in mind that |
was absolutely dcStitute-withOuI clothes
tools or instruments Of any kind except u
h&rpOon. stilettO and steel tOma hawk
l had no book except a New Testament IT
the French and English language: all maps
and charts had been swept away by the
heavy seas that preceded the wreck / had
no writing materials whatever: il was
therefore impossible for me even if Al that
tiTe / had h@d the wish. to make any
sclt ntlHc observations or to record nv
Wanderiugs- For a time, however. I did
take notes on the blank leaves am mar
gins OF the Testament. using blood fer ink
ana quill from wild boar as 4 pen. This
book was. unfortunately. lost after my re.
turn 10 civilization in the wreck of the
steamer M8turt which was lost in the
Strait of Magellan in the present year of
When landed OH the continent I believe
vas; tracts CT il wcr@ UNEMPLOYED. and GER
tainly my own knowledge Of Australian
geography was Eery small and vague. If
l mad known even the exact outline OF Aus
ITALIA II would have saved me many ter
rlb.e journeys ana years Of suffering.
Takes n Native VIE.
As have already said. landed IN the
east side Of Cambridge gulf as nearly as
/ can now remember-that is to say
Queens channel, which was the home #
my native companions. who found their
way back with me from the little i=Ict by
steering by the stars. Fer some ut;I. time
1 remained il the camp Of their tribe
where l was received in d most friendly
Way il consequence of the Introduction and
representations OF my native wife. This
woman Was one of the family If blacks
that had been east upon my i<let When
We landed nearly all the members of the
tribe and many individuals from other
tribes were gathered to see the first white
man they had ever bcheId. They were not
so much surprised, however. at my per
sOual appearance as at the form of my
footprints. which differed very greatly
from theirs. and The few articles | pos
sesSed filled them with amusement. eSpe-
cially my boa. This boat which | built
on the island from the wreck and i'm which
l reached the mainland with the party of
natives. vas. unfortunately, lost il an
Cosnter with 2 whale. and with i. disaD-
pedrcI my hopes o. reaching Somerset at
Cape York. q settlement Of viii n / had
often heard the pearlers speak. Thus I WAS
obliged 70 make the attempt 10y lard. and
l started with my wife about October,
1NssI. intending TO travel due east 20 tn"
Queensland coast. After six or seven
months travelling. at first over a fiat coast
land diversified by Isolated hills, and then
through an elevated and very br, ken COun-
Try. I reached a dcSolate and waterlcSs
GiOn. covered w,ta SpIrlicX. where We both
suffered terribly iCm thirst, and but for
tn skill OF my native wife i'm finding water
and procuring food I should probably
never have GENE through H.
Attempts to Reach Civilization.
We soon found that we had come con-
siderabIy further south than We intended
and 81 We struck due north, and eventu-
ally reached a flooded river flowing east
ward. which presently led US to the sea.
This river was probably the Ropa, enter
ing tho Gulf Of Carpentaria but as l did
not know Of the existence OF such d gulf
] believed We had reached the Queensland
coast and | At once inquired OF the tribes
We met for the nearest settlement of white
men These natives. by the way, were the
most savage and hostile | ever encOun-
tered IN all my wdudcFiHgS. They attacked
al night, but having been warned by my
native wife we retired from our gunyah
OF shelter Of bOughs. and slept in the bush
without a hre. In the morning We would
find our shelter riddl.d with spears. In reply
To my inquiries, for these people were ap-
p~r,utly friendly in the daytime, they
pointed to the southeast and to the. north
east indicating that settlements were to
be found. Then, after staying few weeks
with the tribes living on the islands near
the mouth Of the Ropa, probably the Pei
lew Islands, ! set out I'm a frail dugout
borrowed from these tribes to ascend /
believe. the Albert river. but on account OF
the floods. which at that season affect ali
the rivers on the coast, L changed my mind
/ then determined to coast along to the
HcrthWard, hoping To reach Somerset and
having not the slightest idea that the great
Gun or Carpentaria and Cape York PENN
sCla separated me from the Pacific ocean.
The SmallneSs OF the craft which was
quite unit TO 90 far beyond shelter. ana
the necessity for keeping a close lockout
Tor settlement, compelled US 20 follow
every winding Of the coast.
At length, after several months of coast
lEg, We found the land trending to the
vest, and here, at Rallies bay probably
We found a Malay proa. The MaIays
the mseives. who We're Bechdoman fishers.
were willing TO take us TO kolpang but a.,
ny native wife had a great dislike and dis
trust Of the Malays and could not be pre-
vailed upon 10 90. felt l could not desert
her so far from her own people and L also
considered she had already saved nv life
a great many times. Thus the opportunity
passed.