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202:, in the early French account), on the eastern coast of Cape York Peninsula, after a journey of almost 1,200 kilometres (750 mi). Again, the accounts differ as to how Pelletier got left behind after they found water ashore, but he was later found by three Aboriginal women who went off to tell their husbands. Pelletier must have been very weak from the long journey, the wounds he had received at Rossel Island and with his feet cut by the coral. He was taken in by the Aboriginal group, adopted by one of the men called Maademan, and was given the new name, 'Amglo'.
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Pelletier's adopted father
Maademan encouraged him to trade with the seamen and they persuaded him to go with them. However, Pelletier always maintained that he was kidnapped, not rescued, and that he did not want to leave his Aboriginal family. He could not communicate with the sailors who spoke English and believed that they would shoot him if he tried to escape. He was then taken to the small administrative outpost of Somerset, at the tip of Cape York, from where a report of his discovery was sent to the Colonial Secretary,
214:"It is unlikely that a boy who was adopted by a clan member, grew to manhood and was betrothed would not be inducted into Uutaalnganu ways as an initiated man.... Donald Thomson found that the realm of belief and secret knowledge was not freely talked about by the Kuuku Ya'u, a language group contiguous with the Uutaalnganu people. This would be so by definition, but it makes Pelletier's reticence quite explicable.... All of this suggests his continuing adherence to the belief system of the Uutaalganu."
298:. In 1880, then aged 36, he married a seamstress, Louise Désirée Mabileau, who was 22 at the time. His marriage certificate gives his occupation as 'signalman.' They lived near the entrance to the harbour of Saint-Nazaire where he worked, but had no children. He died on 28 September 1894, aged 50. The death certificate says he was a clerk at the harbour at this time.
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He arrived in Toulon on 13 December, where one of his brothers met him and took him to Paris. He finally returned to his home town of Saint-Gilles on 2 January where he was greeted triumphantly by his family and the whole population of the town with great shouts of "Long live
Pelletier!" The next day
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A biography of
Pelletier recorded after his return to France by Constant Merland contains details of the "social organisation, language, beliefs, treatment of illnesses, mortuary practices, bodily decoration, dances, conflict, punishments, subsistence activities and crafts" of the people who rescued
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and all aboard landed on a tiny waterless island now known as Heron Island or Wolo, about a kilometre from the much larger Rossel Island. When a party was sent to Rossel Island to search for water, they were attacked and some men were killed or taken prisoner. Pelletier was hit by a rock and he and
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Pelletier's account contains little about the spiritual beliefs, sacred knowledge, sorcery and similar subjects. Amongst most, if not all, Aboriginal tribes in
Australia, the information of this nature was kept secret - not just from outsiders, but from uninitiated people and those of the opposite
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The captain and the remaining crew escaped in a longboat. The captain claimed later that he consulted with the
Chinese, but Pelletier claimed he left at night without informing them, and he himself had to jump on board when he saw what was happening. Accounts vary, but there were between nine and
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and some men were sent ashore to find water. The landing party came across a group of
Aborigines accompanied by a white man and reported the encounter to the captain. Joseph Frazer sent his men back with some things to barter in exchange for the white man. According to the French biography,
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and cared for him. This provides a precious insight into the way of life of these people before they had sustained contact with
Europeans, and broadly agrees with present understandings of the conditions at the time by both anthropologists and modern Aboriginal residents.
278:, arriving in Sydney on 25 May. He was there for 38 days in which time he was the object of much curiosity and was contacted by the French consul there who had him photographed. He was photographed again after his arrival in France The photographs clearly show the
247:) and piercings were noted and he apparently confided to one person that he had had three children during his stay with the Aborigines, but this claim has never been substantiated. Another report from this time states that he had 'left two children behind'.
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After returning to France he was offered a job in a travelling show but, when he found out he was to be displayed as 'the huge Anglo-Australian giant,' he firmly refused. He later got work as a lighthouse keeper of the Phare de l'Aiguillon near
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twelve men aboard. They quickly ran short of supplies as most of the weapons and provisions had been left with the
Chinese. They caught seabirds to eat and had to drink urine and seawater to survive on their 12-day journey across the
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an apprentice were the only ones to escape after being picked up by the captain in a boat and returned to Heron Island. Here, they were attacked by men from Rossel, some swimming, some in canoes, but they were driven off by firearms.
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He had trouble at first remembering his French which he was able to use to communicate with two men then at
Somerset who spoke the language. He reportedly made some attempts to escape while still at Somerset. His bodily markings
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under the command of
Captain Emmanuel Pinard. The ship left with a cargo of wine for Bombay and then headed on to Hong Kong where it picked up 317 Chinese labourers departing for work on the Australian goldfields.
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on chest and arms and the holes in his ears (which had previously held wooden plugs) are clearly visible. One of these photographs appears in the frontispiece of the book published about his experience,
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sex in their own tribe. Those who are shown or taught about such matters are almost always placed under solemn obligations not to divulge them, and this, indeed, lends credence to Pelletier's story:
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Témoinage recueilli par Constant Merland. Chez le sauvages: Dix-sept ans de la vie d'un mousse vendéen dans une tribe cannibale. 1858-1875
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a mass of thanksgiving was celebrated in the local church by the same priest who had baptised him 32 years previously.
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Rations began to run short so the captain opted for a quicker, but more dangerous route to Sydney, sailing between the
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Constant Merland, Dix-sept ans chez les sauvages : les aventures de Narcisse Pelletier, 1876
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A Boy Between Worlds: The Tragic and Miraculous Survival of Narcisse Pelletier
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A Boy Between Worlds: The Tragic and Miraculous Survival of Narcisse Pelletier
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Dix-sept ans chez les sauvages : aventures de Narcisse Pelletier.
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was a French sailor. He was abandoned in 1858 at the age of 14 on the
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Dix-sept ans chez les sauvages : aventures de Narcisse Pelletier
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518:/ publiées par C. Merland. Paris, France : E. Dentu, 1876 .
222:, captained by Joseph Frazer, and based at Jervis Island (now
531:, John Oxley Library Blog, State Library of Queensland.
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This Knowledge (XXG) article incorporates text from
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479:Pelletier: The Forgotten Castaway of Cape York
111:(1 January 1844 – 28 September 1894), born in
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250:Pelletier left Somerset 14 May 1875 on the
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151:1876 photograph of Pelletier showing his
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158:In August 1857, Pelletier embarked from
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218:On 11 April 1875, a pearling boat, the
435:(22 February 2022) published by the
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131:family and went on to live with the
496:. Reprint 2001. Cosmopole. Paris.
324:, ABC Radio National, 16 July 2009
21:Alphonse Narcisse Pierre Pelletier
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417:Anderson (2009), pp. 59-64, 277.
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492:Pelletier, Narcisse (1876).
477:Anderson, Stephanie (2009).
522:State Library of Queensland
464:Anderson (2009), pp. 67-68.
446:, accessed on 15 May 2022.
437:State Library of Queensland
408:Anderson (2009), pp. 44-46.
399:Anderson (2009), pp. 42-43.
372:Anderson (2009), pp. 37-40.
363:Anderson (2009), pp. 35-37.
16:French castaway (1844–1894)
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455:Anderson (2009), p. 279.
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272:Keppel Bay
264:Townsville
245:cicatrices
164:Saint-Paul
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129:Aboriginal
54:1844-01-01
565:Castaways
302:Footnotes
226:) in the
220:John Bell
189:Coral Sea
160:Marseille
143:Biography
137:John Bell
125:Australia
276:Brisbane
260:Cooktown
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174:and the
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