Sent packing by his mother with 7000 Francs to “have an adventure”, Louis de Rougemont would not disappoint. But his fantastical story soon took a nasty turn, as he journeyed to Australasia only to get stranded on a remote island for two and a half years, before living - and leading among cannibals, surviving stormy seas and... riding turtles. De Rougemont returns to civilisation to tell all this and other tales that capture the minds of one nation, and the suspicions of another.
Also this week, Violet weirdly also turns to cannibalism (as reported in the papers) and anthropomorphised fruit.
Yesterday’s Chip Paper is a fortnightly(ish) history podcast that delves into the weird and wonderful world of historic newspapers. You’ll never know what they’ll find, from Sausage Kings to witch hunts to pugilists turned to preachers, but it is always guaranteed to be downright bonkers.
Your hosts, Jim and Violet, are two amateur researchers based on opposite sides of the Atlantic (New York and London respectively). You can contact them at chippaperpodcast@gmail.com or find them on Facebook and Twitter @PaperPodcast.
Sources used in this episode:
British Newspaper Archive https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/
TROVE (National Library of Australia) http://trove.nla.gov.au/
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