In 1875, the French “barbaric plain” made headlines in English newspapers.

Narcissus Pelletier. He was born in 1844 in Wendy’s in Saint-Gilles-Crox-de-Wee. As a boy, he landed on the Three Masts of St. Paul, which travels to Sydney with cargo of wine. On September 11, 1858, the ship was wrecked. After several disasters, the crew set foot near Cape York, Australia. When looking for water, Narcissus Bellettier loses sight of the crew managing to leave, but without him. Abandoned, head and leg injuries, a young 14-year-old boy is alone when taken away by the women of a tribal people. They take care of him and feed him. Not only is he saved, he gradually becomes a member of the community. This is called “amglo”. On April 11, 1875, a 31-year-old man with the appearance of an aborigine discovered by English sailors. Narcissus Pelletier, abducted by the British, is deported to France. In Australia, the Times in London tells the incredible story of what journalists of the time called “white savages.” In France, he was examined by a doctor in Paris and was successfully received at the Saint Gilles Croix de Vie. This is where he ends his career as a lighthouse keeper.

Narcissus will tell this 17-year life in a book and in the pen of Constant Merland. A unique testimony to the life of the aborigines of Australia at the time, after all, did not feel superior to what Narcissus Bellettier had ever called disgusting “savages.” He would have wished he had never left them. He saw them as brothers, and he never forgot them. We didn’t stop the story.