Source: Futility Closet
In 1761 a French schooner was shipwrecked in the Indian Ocean, leaving more than 200 people stranded on a tiny island. The crew departed in a makeshift boat, leaving 60 Malagasy slaves to fend for themselves and wait for rescue. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll tell the story of the Tromelin Island castaways, which one observer calls “arguably the most extraordinary story of survival ever documented.
”We’ll also admire some hardworking cats and puzzle over a racer’s death.
Intro:
In 1830 architect Thomas Willson proposed building an enormous pyramid to house London’s dead.
In 1959 a Norwegian insulation manufacturer undertook to transport a three-ton block of ice to the equator without refrigeration.
Sources for our feature on the Tromelin Island castaways:
“Lèse humanité,” Economist, Dec. 16, 2015.
Max Guérout, “Esclaves oubliés,” La Revue Maritime 477 (December 2006).
John Lichfield, “Shipwrecked and Abandoned: The Story of the Slave Crusoes,” Independent, Feb. 5, 2007.
James Russell, “The Recovery of Tromelin Island,” National Geographic, April 11, 2016.
V. Laroulandie and C. Lefèvre, “The Use of Avian Resources by the Forgotten Slaves of Tromelin Island (Indian Ocean),” International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 24:3 (2014), 407-416.
Matthieu Le Corre, et al. “Seabird Recovery and Vegetation Dynamics After Norway Rat Eradication at Tromelin Island, Western Indian Ocean,” Biological Conservation 185 (2015), 85-94.
Nick Marriner et al., “A Geomorphological Reconnaissance of Tromelin Island, Indian Ocean,” Journal of Coastal Research 28:6 (November 2012), 1606-1616.
Urko Apaolaza Ávila, “Basques in the Caribbean Slave Trade (Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries),” in William A. Douglass, ed., Basques in Cuba, 2016.
Jane Webster, “Slave Ships and Maritime Archaeology: An Overview,” International Journal of Historical Archaeology 12:1 (March 2008), 6–19.
Annabelle Georgen, “Abandonnés sur une île déserte: la tragédie des esclaves…
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