1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:06,240 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Since Jules Verreaux came up in our episode 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:08,800 Speaker 1: on the Platypus, we thought we would bring our Verreaux 3 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:12,600 Speaker 1: Brothers episode back into people's feeds. The Verreaux Brothers and 4 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: their taxidermy tableaus have also come up on Unearthed, including 5 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: the tableau now known as Lion Attacking and Dromedary. When 6 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:23,640 Speaker 1: we recorded this, it was believed that this tableau did 7 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:27,440 Speaker 1: not include any real human remains, but as we discussed 8 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: in Unearthed in Surprize, it actually does. This tableau was 9 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:36,120 Speaker 1: also covered up for a time in and it came 10 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:40,159 Speaker 1: back on full display in July of One of the 11 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: Verreau brothers most horrifying actions which we talked about in 12 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,480 Speaker 1: this episode was stealing the body of a man who 13 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: was believed to be from Botswana and then using that 14 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 1: body to create a taxidermy display. After this episode came out, 15 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:56,320 Speaker 1: we got a message from listener Tina, who grew up 16 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 1: in Botswana and let us know that a person from 17 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,279 Speaker 1: Botswana is called a mots Wanna. Cina also noted the 18 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: pronunciation of the city Habrone, and there continues to be 19 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: debates about where this person was really from. There are 20 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: articles from as recently as twenty nineteen, suggesting that he 21 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 1: may really have been from close to Cape Town, South Africa, 22 00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: rather than from Botswana, so the mysteries continue. This episode 23 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: originally came out on November Welcome to Stuff You Missed 24 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:38,400 Speaker 1: in History Class, a production of I Heart Radio. Hello, 25 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:40,960 Speaker 1: and Welcome to the podcast. I'm Polly Frying and I'm 26 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: Tracy V. Wilson. So sometimes we will pick a topic 27 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: because it seems interesting in light, Like we've had a 28 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: lot of heavy stuff. So you and I have both 29 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: been pretty open that we're looking at just some less intense, troublesome, 30 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: fair les horrifying. Yeah. Uh. And then while you're doing 31 00:01:57,920 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: the research on that thing that seems like it would 32 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: just be cool and fascinating, you discover a whole other 33 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: story that you didn't know was there. This is one 34 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: of those cases. Uh. So for context, it'll sound like 35 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: I'm going off on a crazy tangent, but it's Jermaine. 36 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 1: One of my favorite animals of all time, like in 37 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: the world, is the verro sifaka. And this is uh 38 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: an animal you've probably seen footage of. There are members 39 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 1: of the Lemur family uh Indre Day and their native 40 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:26,520 Speaker 1: dramatic gascar. So even if you don't recognize your name, 41 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: you have probably seen footage of them. Um. They sometimes 42 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: versions of them show up on children's shows and in 43 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: cartoons because they're so incredibly cute. They're mostly white, and 44 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 1: they have kind of rust brown bellies and these dark 45 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: chocolate colored faces and these big eyes, and they're so cute. 46 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:44,360 Speaker 1: There are a million videos of them on YouTube hopping 47 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: around because they sometimes will travel on the ground upright 48 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: in kind of a crazy jumping motion, and people like 49 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: to set it to music. It's adorable. We'll try to 50 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: include a link to at least one of those in 51 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 1: the show notes. So I thought, hey, you know, it 52 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:59,800 Speaker 1: would be really cool we should talk about Jules Verreau, 53 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: who is the naturalist for whom these charming animals were named. 54 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 1: And then the research got a little bit dark but 55 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: also kind of interesting and exciting, even though some of 56 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: the subject matter is troubling, and it's not that the 57 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: dark parts are also the exciting parts. There's a largely 58 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: two different parts. There's a lot of different elements to 59 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:24,840 Speaker 1: the story, and it really involves an entire family and 60 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: sort of their family business. Uh, it's involves botany and 61 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: taxidermy and grave robbing and the Paris exposition and kind 62 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: of a lot of different things that we've talked about 63 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: on the show before in different episodes, but this really 64 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: kind of stacks a number of them together and it's 65 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: kind of fascinating in that regard. So that is the 66 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:49,119 Speaker 1: scoop about Jules Verreaux and sort of how we got 67 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,119 Speaker 1: to some you'll see it's about halfway through we get 68 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: to kind of the really thing that might make your 69 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: if you feel a little unease about some of the 70 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: things that they did in the name of exploration and 71 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: uh science, but also kind of sensationalist tourism kind of attractions. 72 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: So normally we would start an episode that revolves around 73 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:17,719 Speaker 1: the actions of people like this by talking about the 74 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,039 Speaker 1: early lives of those people. But this is kind of 75 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: tricky in this case because even though there was some 76 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 1: fame and notoriety to the family, the accounts of like 77 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: what their childhood with the family, the patriarch and then 78 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: his children who really become the prime point of the story, 79 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:36,360 Speaker 1: like what their home life and their childhoods were like, 80 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:39,839 Speaker 1: it's pretty sparse and there's a lot of really contradictory stories. 81 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: So it's sort of this happens a lot with much 82 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: older history, where it's sort of like and suddenly there 83 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 1: was a mathematician. Yeah, this seems recent enough that I'm like, 84 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 1: there should be more stuff. But I think part of 85 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: it is that because there is a lot of exploring 86 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: that happened, and at one point there was a ship 87 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: that sank, was things like I'm wondering if documents got 88 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,040 Speaker 1: lost or journals got lost along the way. So that's 89 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: the scoop. So in eighteen oh three, taxidermist Jacques Philippe 90 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: Verreaux opened Maison Varreau, which was a taxidermy house. So 91 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:20,840 Speaker 1: Maison Varreau provided taxidermy specimens to museums and collectors, and 92 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: this was the foremost supplier of natural exhibit pieces, and 93 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: work from the Verreau family business is still on display 94 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:31,840 Speaker 1: in museums throughout the world. Actually, now I'm wondering if 95 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: there were any at the I went to a very 96 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: odd museum a couple of weekends ago that was full 97 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: of really old taxidermy specimens, and now I wish I 98 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 1: had made note of who had prepared them all. It's 99 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: very possible. There are like a lot of big name 100 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: museums that still have their pieces, and one of them 101 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:50,159 Speaker 1: were gonna talk about at length a little bit later. 102 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:53,919 Speaker 1: But I suspect because we're talking about huge volume that 103 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: these guys were doing in terms of the specimens they prepared, 104 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: and uh there, I'm sure some of that has trickled 105 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:05,919 Speaker 1: out into much smaller, uh and sort of less flagship 106 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:08,920 Speaker 1: museums that are a little bit more specialized. But so 107 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: jacqu Philippe and his wife Josephine had three sons. So 108 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: there was Jules Pierre, who was born in eighteen o seven, 109 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:19,479 Speaker 1: Jean Baptiste Eduard, who went by Edwards throughout his life. 110 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 1: In eighteen ten, and their youngest son was Joseph Alexey, 111 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:26,520 Speaker 1: and he went by Alexey. When their oldest son, Jules 112 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 1: was eleven or maybe twelve, because he accounts very a 113 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:32,599 Speaker 1: little bit, he traveled with his uncle, naturalist Pierre de 114 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:36,280 Speaker 1: la Land to South Africa. Jules was in South Africa 115 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: until he was thirteen, and when the two of them 116 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:40,360 Speaker 1: came back, they brought more than a hundred and thirty 117 00:06:40,480 --> 00:06:44,240 Speaker 1: thousand specimens home with them. This number was mostly made 118 00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: up of plant specimens, but they were also almost three 119 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:51,520 Speaker 1: hundred mammals more than two thousand birds and several hundred 120 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 1: fish and reptiles. And then also in their collection were 121 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:58,040 Speaker 1: a number of human skulls and full skeletons which had 122 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: been exhumed from their burial spots in Cape Town. And 123 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:05,039 Speaker 1: one of the larger specimens that they brought back was 124 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 1: the skeleton of a hippopotamus, which I don't think had 125 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: ever been uh collected before, and that went on display 126 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: at the Paris Museum of Natural History. Once he was 127 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: back in Paris, Jewels studied anatomy and taxidermy, and he 128 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: had this natural proclivity for preserving biological sample. He very 129 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: uh almost effortlessly sort of fell in line with the 130 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 1: family business, like he was just really naturally extremely good 131 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:37,239 Speaker 1: at at mounting specimens. And in so Jewels had been 132 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: studying for a while his uncle Pierre died. That was 133 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: the uncle that he had traveled to Cape Town originally with, 134 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: and so Juels actually returned to Cape Town after Pierre's death, 135 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:48,360 Speaker 1: and eventually while he was working there, he helped to 136 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,160 Speaker 1: establish and become curator of the South African Museum, and 137 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 1: that was a post that he officially began in eighteen 138 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 1: twenty nine. Although the wheels were turning on getting it 139 00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: set up before that, and he also the whole time 140 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 1: he was there, Can tinued to collect samples of both 141 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 1: flora and fauna. During this second collection phase, it just 142 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 1: became glaringly obvious that he was going to need help, 143 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:12,000 Speaker 1: so he sent for his brother, Edward, the second son 144 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: of Maizomboro, made this journey to Cape Town in eighteen thirty. Yes, 145 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:20,239 Speaker 1: so that was just the year after Jules became Jules 146 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: assumed his post at the South African Museum. And during 147 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:27,160 Speaker 1: this time there's also some interesting it's almost like a 148 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:30,840 Speaker 1: side note in a lot of the the accounts you read, Uh, 149 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:34,200 Speaker 1: he became interested in seeking out sort of mythological creatures 150 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 1: to see if they had any basis in reality. So 151 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: he was actually searching for a unicorn during this time, 152 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:45,080 Speaker 1: and also an elephant bird, which was apparently extinct. It 153 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: was also during this time that the Bureaux brothers came 154 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: into possession of an item that would just be extremely 155 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: controversial and I would say justifiably so long after the 156 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 1: two of them were gone. But before we get into 157 00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: this sort of grim bit of taxidermy, do you want 158 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: to pause and have a word from a sponsor, so 159 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:05,200 Speaker 1: we don't interrupt sort of the dark weirdness with let's 160 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:19,080 Speaker 1: do okay, okay. So before the break, Edward had traveled 161 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:21,960 Speaker 1: to South Africa to assist his older brother Jewels in 162 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:25,080 Speaker 1: the collection of specimens, both for the museum, where Jewels 163 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:27,199 Speaker 1: was a curator and for a return to Paris to 164 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:31,079 Speaker 1: be sold to collectors as part of the ongoing family 165 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 1: high end taxidermy business. And while the search for a 166 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: unicorn or some other mythical animal didn't pan out, they 167 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: did get their hands on a human specimen and this 168 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:46,520 Speaker 1: particular piece actually involved a grave robbing um what is 169 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:49,679 Speaker 1: believed possibly this isn't a hunder percent confirmed, and we'll 170 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: talk about this later to be a native Botswana man 171 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:56,440 Speaker 1: was taken from his resting place, preserved and mounted, and 172 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:01,160 Speaker 1: in a letter to Paris Museum director George Cuvier, Jules wrote, quote, 173 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:03,440 Speaker 1: an object which is not the least interesting in our 174 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:07,719 Speaker 1: collection is a stuffed Bushwana. So it's a little bit 175 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: of a wiggly a way to say Botswana, which is 176 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: very well preserved, and which was about to cause my 177 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 1: death because in order to get it I was obliged 178 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 1: to disenter it at night in places guarded by his fellows. 179 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 1: Really French guy. Yeah, it's uh, there's one account and 180 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:29,320 Speaker 1: we'll talk about, like I said, this particular specimen more 181 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 1: because his history reaches quite far through history. Um, there 182 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: was one particular piece of research I was doing. They 183 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:41,000 Speaker 1: were like, you can almost kind of like excuse it 184 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:45,200 Speaker 1: a little as just contextualized in the time. But even so, 185 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 1: I think what's telling is that the museum did not 186 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:53,120 Speaker 1: want it, but they were like, no, thank you. Uh, 187 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:56,040 Speaker 1: they said, we would not like to purchase this piece 188 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:59,319 Speaker 1: from you. Yeah, so it went on display at Maison 189 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 1: Varrow because they had it. It was already shipped. Upsetting. 190 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 1: It is upsetting well, and I think the reason that 191 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 1: there are a lot of things that we talked about 192 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:14,720 Speaker 1: that happened in the past would definitely be inexcusable today. 193 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:19,720 Speaker 1: And like there's some degree at the time, right, attitudes 194 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:24,319 Speaker 1: are very different. It's been really long established that like 195 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:30,360 Speaker 1: burying of the dead is a pretty sacrisanct thing across cultures, 196 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:32,559 Speaker 1: and that's where I kind of go, guys, you should 197 00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:36,760 Speaker 1: have known better. Yeah, well, especially when he talks about 198 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:40,520 Speaker 1: how he had to like sneakily do it like he's guarded. Yeah, 199 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 1: surely there was a question mark in your head, like 200 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:44,600 Speaker 1: is this the right thing to do? And I don't 201 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:47,319 Speaker 1: We don't know, unfortunately, if he was just so driven 202 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:53,240 Speaker 1: by this spirit of collection and you know, cataloging the 203 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: world of all of its various types of creatures, or 204 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: if he was just kind of weasily and us wanted 205 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:02,920 Speaker 1: to sell it off for money, Like, it's not really clear, 206 00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:06,000 Speaker 1: but it certainly seems like there had to have. You 207 00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:08,080 Speaker 1: would hope there was a moment of moral debate in 208 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 1: his head at least that The following piece appeared in 209 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:17,439 Speaker 1: the Parisian periodical La Constitutional. And this is a translation 210 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:19,920 Speaker 1: that runs a little long, but we wanted to include 211 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: all of it because it's a really good indicator of 212 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,640 Speaker 1: the cultural attitude at the time toward Native Africans. Yeah, 213 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: and this appeared in November of one So bear with me, 214 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: I'm going to read the whole thing. Two young people, monsieur, 215 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 1: the Varreaux brothers have recently arrived from a voyage to 216 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:39,400 Speaker 1: the ends of Africa, to the land of the Cape 217 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:42,800 Speaker 1: of Good Hope. One of these interesting naturalists is barely 218 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: eighteen years old, but he has already spent twenty months 219 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:47,240 Speaker 1: in the wild country north of the land of the 220 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:50,680 Speaker 1: Hot and Tots, between the latitudes of Natal and the 221 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: top of Saint Helena Bay. How can one possibly imagine 222 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: what deprivations he had to endure. Our young compatriots had 223 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: to face the dangers of living in the midst of 224 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 1: natives in this zone of Africa, who are ferocious as 225 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 1: well as black, as well as the fawn colored wild 226 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:08,200 Speaker 1: animals among which they live, about which we do not 227 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,080 Speaker 1: need to tell. We want to speak only about the 228 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: triumphs of their collecting, and do not know which to 229 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:20,440 Speaker 1: admire more They're intrepidity or their perseverance. Humans, quadrupeds, birds, fish, plants, 230 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 1: mineral shells. All of these they have studied. They're hunting 231 00:13:24,559 --> 00:13:28,880 Speaker 1: has given them tigers, lions, hyenas, and admirable lubal, a 232 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: crimson antelope of rare elegance, a host of other small 233 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: members of the same family, two giraffes, monkeys, long pitchforks, 234 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: very curious rats, ostriches, birds of prey which have never 235 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:43,599 Speaker 1: been described before, A great quantity of other birds of 236 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 1: all sizes, colors and species. They also have a collection 237 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:49,240 Speaker 1: of birds nests which could be the object of a 238 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:53,040 Speaker 1: charming descriptive essay. Roots like onions and other plants of 239 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:57,640 Speaker 1: remarkable shape and extraordinary size, snakes, a cashelo, and a 240 00:13:57,679 --> 00:14:01,680 Speaker 1: crocodile of a type previously unknown, but their greatest curiosity 241 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:05,600 Speaker 1: is an individual of the nation of the Bejuanas. This 242 00:14:05,679 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 1: man is preserved by the means by which naturalists prepare 243 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,840 Speaker 1: their specimens and reconstitute their form, and, so to speak, 244 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: their inert life. He is of small stature, black of skin, 245 00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:19,800 Speaker 1: his head covered by short, wooly and curly hair, armed 246 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:23,480 Speaker 1: with arrows and a lance, clothes in antelope skin, with 247 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:27,880 Speaker 1: a bag made of bush pig, full of small glass beads, seeds, 248 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 1: and of small bones. Another thing that we are rather 249 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 1: embarrassed to find a suitable to term to characterize is 250 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 1: the very special accessory of modest clothing worn by the 251 00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:42,480 Speaker 1: best Juanas, which we find most striking. Monsieur Verro have 252 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:45,920 Speaker 1: deposited their scientific riches at the stores of Monsieur de 253 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:50,640 Speaker 1: Lasserre rue Salfiac number three. They are generously put on 254 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 1: display for the public without charge. It would be well 255 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 1: of the Gardin de Pilante, which is the botanical gardens 256 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:00,840 Speaker 1: took this opportunity to extend its collections already so beautiful, 257 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:04,200 Speaker 1: to become even more desirable, and to use the skills 258 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:06,880 Speaker 1: which they did not already possess of Monsieur Verrot with 259 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,360 Speaker 1: the time, the talent, and the energy necessary to go 260 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 1: out Africa to catch nature in the act. It's so 261 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:18,840 Speaker 1: crazy of this weird grossness. It really, well you say 262 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: weird grossness, Like this part turns my stomach where they're 263 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:24,840 Speaker 1: talking about this part that it's a man. Isn't it 264 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:28,120 Speaker 1: great that they did this? You guys. It's such a bizarre, 265 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 1: uh like way to sell it to my mind, you know, 266 00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:38,400 Speaker 1: like my sensibilities are very like troubled that they're like, 267 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:41,000 Speaker 1: what we really want to talk about is how amazing 268 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:45,240 Speaker 1: these two guys are. Yeah, and then they talk about 269 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:51,120 Speaker 1: the specimen of the Botswan and with such delight and 270 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:54,880 Speaker 1: right like, oh, it's the neatest thing, And I'm like, 271 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: that's a person. So listeners, sometimes this is what happened 272 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:02,600 Speaker 1: when we just want to talk about adorable lemurs, as 273 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:07,280 Speaker 1: we find horrifying things instead. So the middle brother, Edward 274 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:11,000 Speaker 1: brought this human display and an assortment of other samples 275 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,360 Speaker 1: to Paris in eighteen thirty one, and a lot of 276 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:15,880 Speaker 1: them were delivered into the hands of museums that were 277 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:19,320 Speaker 1: really eager to expand their collections. So we're gonna come 278 00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:21,960 Speaker 1: back to this particular piece of taxidermy in a bit, 279 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 1: because the story of this mounted human specimen reaches all 280 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:29,840 Speaker 1: the way up to very recent history. But as for 281 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 1: the Verreaux brothers themselves, when Edward returned to South Africa 282 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:36,640 Speaker 1: the following year, so that would be thirty two, he 283 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 1: also brought their third brother, Alexei, with him. It's believed 284 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:43,760 Speaker 1: that Alexei never left Africa after his arrival and lived 285 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:46,840 Speaker 1: out the rest of his life there, assisting with jules 286 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:51,040 Speaker 1: collection efforts. Jules and Edwards seemed to have done some traveling, 287 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:53,920 Speaker 1: although there's no definitive record on exactly where they went, 288 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 1: and the list includes usually places like the Philippines in China, 289 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:01,560 Speaker 1: it does appear that it point in late eighteen thirties, 290 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:04,520 Speaker 1: a shipment of their specimens was lost on its way 291 00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:07,000 Speaker 1: to Paris when the whole ship that was carrying the 292 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:11,720 Speaker 1: collection sank. Yeah, that's usually if you look at different accounts, 293 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:15,919 Speaker 1: that's usually consistent. Uh. And then getting into the eighteen forties. 294 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: It's consistent. But during that period of the eighteen thirties, 295 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:23,560 Speaker 1: particularly the early half, there will be accounts of them 296 00:17:23,600 --> 00:17:26,399 Speaker 1: being in two different places at the same time, in 297 00:17:26,800 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 1: different like you know, journals and accounts that other people 298 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:32,120 Speaker 1: have given. We will say, oh, they were in China then, 299 00:17:32,119 --> 00:17:34,920 Speaker 1: and it's some other one says it's like, it doesn't 300 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:36,960 Speaker 1: even acknowledge that one exists. They may not have known that, 301 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:39,000 Speaker 1: but it's like, oh, and then they were here in 302 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:40,639 Speaker 1: this part of the world, and they could not have 303 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:42,399 Speaker 1: been in both of those places. So it is a 304 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 1: little bit hard to actually track their movements. In eighteen 305 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:50,240 Speaker 1: forty two, Jules Verreaux made his way to Australia and 306 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: he wanted to expand his preserved sample of offerings to 307 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:58,040 Speaker 1: include more specimens from outside of Africa. He explored New 308 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:02,160 Speaker 1: South Wales and Tasmania and he gathered all kinds of botanicals, insects, 309 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,560 Speaker 1: birds and mammals, and again he gained some the possession 310 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:11,639 Speaker 1: of some human remains. Yeah, they you know have It 311 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,679 Speaker 1: comes up periodically that they had multiple samples of human remains. 312 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:19,760 Speaker 1: It it's usually believed by most people. I think that 313 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,440 Speaker 1: they really only did the one mounting of a human 314 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:25,280 Speaker 1: and that the rest were sort of like bones that 315 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:28,639 Speaker 1: have been discovered along the way. They may have. We 316 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:32,160 Speaker 1: talked about them disentering some bodies in South Africa, uh, 317 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:35,359 Speaker 1: some of the skeletons, but just for context, there was 318 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: just the one taxidermy human that we know of. One 319 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:41,359 Speaker 1: too many, it is, but I just want to make 320 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:44,480 Speaker 1: that clear that this wasn't like a They weren't making 321 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:48,919 Speaker 1: a career of taxidermyng people. So, after five years of 322 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:53,120 Speaker 1: exploring Australia, Jewels returned to Paris and for several years 323 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:56,679 Speaker 1: he worked on organizing and naming the collection, both the 324 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:58,679 Speaker 1: new things that he had brought as well as you know, 325 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:01,720 Speaker 1: sort of placing them in contact with other specimens that 326 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:04,800 Speaker 1: he had collected through the years. He was eventually employed 327 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:08,159 Speaker 1: as an assistant naturalist at the Paris Museum of Natural History, 328 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:11,320 Speaker 1: and that started in eighteen sixty two, so it had 329 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 1: been more than a decade that he had been kind 330 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:17,200 Speaker 1: of working on classifications and and descriptive catalogs of all 331 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: of his various pieces that he had gathered throughout the world. 332 00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:24,040 Speaker 1: Jules had continued to work on his taxidermy throughout his 333 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:26,360 Speaker 1: whole life in his travels, but it's in the late 334 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:29,000 Speaker 1: eighteen sixties that he made one of his most famous 335 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:34,320 Speaker 1: mounted tableau, and it was entitled Arab Courier Attacked by Lions. 336 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: In this display, a mannequin outfitted in the black cape 337 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:40,240 Speaker 1: that was typical of the Arab and our address of 338 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:44,000 Speaker 1: North Africa is featured in the fictional moment that he's 339 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:48,080 Speaker 1: pulled off of the camel he's riding by two Barbary lions. 340 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,959 Speaker 1: An Arab courier won the Gold Medal for Excellence at 341 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,480 Speaker 1: the Paris Exposition in eighteen sixty seven, and during the 342 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:58,200 Speaker 1: seven months it was on display there, more than fifteen 343 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,439 Speaker 1: million spectators came just to see it. Uh. It was 344 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,320 Speaker 1: a really dramatic shift from most of the taxidermy that 345 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:06,800 Speaker 1: had come before it, and certainly different than almost anyone 346 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 1: had seen before, because prior to that, it was pretty 347 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:12,439 Speaker 1: common even if you were setting up a scene of 348 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,600 Speaker 1: taxidermy that it would kind of just be multiple mounts 349 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:18,600 Speaker 1: kind of in a line. But this is the first 350 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:21,720 Speaker 1: time that it really was sort of an action scene 351 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:26,359 Speaker 1: that depicted like an event happening. After the Paris Exposition closed, 352 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: the American Museum of Natural History bought Burrows display and 353 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:34,280 Speaker 1: it wasn't available for public viewing for some time. Once 354 00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:36,919 Speaker 1: museum officials saw the piece in person, they thought it 355 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:39,200 Speaker 1: was a little too ghost to be part of their collection, 356 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:42,960 Speaker 1: so they kept just kept it in storage for thirty years. Yeah, 357 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:45,400 Speaker 1: basically was in a warehouse in New York for all 358 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:50,440 Speaker 1: that time. Eventually, though, in it was sold. It was 359 00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:53,320 Speaker 1: sold to the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which was 360 00:20:53,359 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 1: fairly new at the time, for the tidy sum of 361 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 1: fifty dollars, and it eventually became a prominent part of 362 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:03,000 Speaker 1: the collection there. There is one story that it they 363 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 1: were going to be charged. I think it's forty five 364 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:08,840 Speaker 1: dollars for them to actually transport it from its storage 365 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:11,800 Speaker 1: place to the museum, and I think that ruffled some feathers, 366 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:14,159 Speaker 1: like we just paid fifty dollars for this, and we 367 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:17,640 Speaker 1: gotta pay another fifty just to get it here. Uh. 368 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,640 Speaker 1: But it did eventually make its way to the collection. 369 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:22,199 Speaker 1: And while there have been rumors throughout the years that 370 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:25,159 Speaker 1: the man on the camel was an actual human, it 371 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:27,040 Speaker 1: is not. And that's one of those things that has 372 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,720 Speaker 1: been debated. There was a restoration point where it was 373 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,600 Speaker 1: worked on because there had been, you know, some degradation 374 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:37,520 Speaker 1: of the the specimen. But even so, I think most people, 375 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:39,960 Speaker 1: in most museum curators that have been involved with it, 376 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:42,639 Speaker 1: I don't think it was ever an actual human, but 377 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:45,920 Speaker 1: because of the precedent of the Botswanan man, they there 378 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:49,080 Speaker 1: have always been some suspicions. And as a side note, 379 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 1: Barbary lions went extinct not long after the Verreaux assembled 380 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 1: this tableau, So if you're interested in seeing Arab courier 381 00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:00,480 Speaker 1: attacked by lions, it's still on display at the Carnegie Museum. 382 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 1: The museum modeled a snow globe after it in two 383 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:09,440 Speaker 1: thousand and nine. Yeah, they started like an interesting program 384 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:11,400 Speaker 1: where they were doing snow globes of some of their 385 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:13,919 Speaker 1: most interesting and famous pieces, and that was the one 386 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:16,800 Speaker 1: that kicked off the collection. So I have never seen 387 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 1: one of the snow globes and how it actually turned out, 388 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:21,800 Speaker 1: but it's kind of fascinating. I had this brief moment 389 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:23,640 Speaker 1: where I was like, I want one. I should start 390 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 1: a snow globe collection, and then immediately where are you 391 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:31,720 Speaker 1: going to put a snow loocalections, That's the problem always uh. So, 392 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:36,960 Speaker 1: both Edward and Alexei died in eighteen sixty eight and 393 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:39,640 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventies, so that was right after this big 394 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 1: sort of triumph at the Paris Exposition of Jules's Peace. 395 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:46,639 Speaker 1: And in eighteen seventy Jules Verreaux left France as the 396 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:49,479 Speaker 1: franc Oppression more began and he fled to England and 397 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:52,439 Speaker 1: he lived there for three years before he died. And 398 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:55,399 Speaker 1: when he had sold the Arab courier piece to the 399 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:58,960 Speaker 1: American Museum of Natural History, he sold with it to 400 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:02,719 Speaker 1: them the vast majority of the collection of Maison Vaux. 401 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,760 Speaker 1: And there's been some speculation that he actually knew his 402 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: health was already pretty dicey at that point and he 403 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:13,040 Speaker 1: wanted to make sure that collection went somewhere and somewhere 404 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,320 Speaker 1: that was a museum that would understand what exactly they 405 00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:21,520 Speaker 1: were getting, because it's been discussed by some historians that 406 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:25,480 Speaker 1: he probably was already pretty sick from the ongoing exposure 407 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:28,520 Speaker 1: to chemicals used in taxidermy that he had basically been 408 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: doing since he was a child. So, uh, he was 409 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: not in great health at that point. Despite some claims 410 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,240 Speaker 1: that there was a child born out of wedlock, when 411 00:23:38,320 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 1: Jules was still very young. This was the end of 412 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:44,359 Speaker 1: the Verreaux brothers liege. And while there are a number 413 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,159 Speaker 1: of species that bear the Verreaux name as a consequence 414 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:50,000 Speaker 1: of all the exploration and collecting that Jules and Edward 415 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:52,920 Speaker 1: did and that Alexei assisted them with, there has also 416 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:57,520 Speaker 1: been some confusion about certain species based on some incorrect 417 00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:00,359 Speaker 1: labeling that Jules is believed to have done to some 418 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:04,040 Speaker 1: of their collected pieces. And there's been some speculation that 419 00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:07,760 Speaker 1: he may have purposely mislabeled some specimens uh and the 420 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:10,159 Speaker 1: locations where they had been found to make them appear 421 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,600 Speaker 1: more exotic and therefore more valuable to museums and collectors. 422 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 1: We don't know whether or not that was the case, 423 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:21,560 Speaker 1: but regardless of the cause of this labeling UH sloppiness, 424 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:23,919 Speaker 1: those poorly cataloged items kind of did a bit of 425 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:26,000 Speaker 1: a disservice to science. There have been a couple of 426 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:28,399 Speaker 1: points of confusion over the years. Was like, wait, this 427 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:32,919 Speaker 1: animal isn't really native to this place, like uh, And 428 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,720 Speaker 1: eventually they realized like, no, this is just wrong. Yeah. Well, 429 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:39,359 Speaker 1: and I want to point out that that poor or 430 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:42,680 Speaker 1: inaccurate labor labeling is like not unique to these guys. No, 431 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:46,239 Speaker 1: not at all. There are frequently stories that will come 432 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:48,639 Speaker 1: across our radar, which is like a museum found something 433 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,080 Speaker 1: really stunning in their collection that they didn't know they had. 434 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:53,760 Speaker 1: And yeah, a lot of times people are ready to 435 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,000 Speaker 1: go whoever made that mistakes should be fired. And I'm 436 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:57,800 Speaker 1: kind of like that guy made that mistake in about 437 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:02,280 Speaker 1: nineteen twelve. Well moreover, I mean, I uh, not that 438 00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:06,199 Speaker 1: it excuses it, but when you're bringing back hundreds of 439 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:09,679 Speaker 1: thousands of things at a time, I could imagine it 440 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:12,959 Speaker 1: would be easy to lose track of something, or you know, 441 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:16,639 Speaker 1: even if you're attempting to be meticulous, you could just 442 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:19,080 Speaker 1: write down the wrong note in your book as you 443 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:22,960 Speaker 1: go to keep track of uh. And I promised we 444 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,760 Speaker 1: would return back to the taxidermy man, and we will, 445 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:29,160 Speaker 1: but first we're going to have a word from a sponsor. 446 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:31,159 Speaker 1: If that's cool with Tracy. I think we should have 447 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:44,720 Speaker 1: a break before we get to this scene. So back 448 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 1: to our story and to the part that I promised 449 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 1: we would come back to you. You're probably wondering what 450 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:52,840 Speaker 1: happened to that taxidermy man from Botswana. Uh. Well, in 451 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:57,879 Speaker 1: the eighteen eighties, a Spanish taxidermist and veterinarian named Frances Darter. 452 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:01,960 Speaker 1: It's probably pronounced differently, but usually uh said that way 453 00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:04,800 Speaker 1: when people are just discussing it in the sources. I 454 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:07,800 Speaker 1: looked at purchased the piece, uh, And originally he was 455 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:11,199 Speaker 1: gonna he put it on display at the Spanish Exposition, 456 00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:14,800 Speaker 1: and then after he passed, it landed in the Darter 457 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:17,960 Speaker 1: Museum of Natural History, which is in Spain. So this 458 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:22,520 Speaker 1: exhibit was simply labeled El Negro and it drew crowds 459 00:26:22,560 --> 00:26:27,439 Speaker 1: for years and not just a few years. Years. The 460 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:30,120 Speaker 1: most shocking part of this story lies in the fact 461 00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:32,639 Speaker 1: that this tax that are made human being was on 462 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:38,800 Speaker 1: display until the late nineteen nineties. Yeah, nin nineties, so 463 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,680 Speaker 1: a very long time to be standing there. I think 464 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:47,920 Speaker 1: the part that really gets me is that this was 465 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:50,959 Speaker 1: not a person like I could almost see a taxidermy 466 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,119 Speaker 1: to human being on display if that had been their wish, 467 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,479 Speaker 1: Like they're certainly people that have donated their bodies, and 468 00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:00,040 Speaker 1: I get this is like a grave robbed situation. And 469 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:04,800 Speaker 1: then this person just stayed on display forever, which is troubling. Uh. 470 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 1: So in the museum was asked if they would consent 471 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:10,880 Speaker 1: to return the body to Botswana to be respectfully put 472 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:15,879 Speaker 1: to rest at last, after being an African novelty for 473 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:19,359 Speaker 1: Europeans on display for more than a hundred and fifty years. 474 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:23,720 Speaker 1: And initially the museum refused. If this were happening today, 475 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:27,000 Speaker 1: the internet would jump all over. So, writing for The 476 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:30,720 Speaker 1: New York Times in two thousand, Rachel Swarns stated the 477 00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:34,760 Speaker 1: significance of the display piece and here's a quote to Africans, 478 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 1: he was a symbol of racism lingering from the turn 479 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:39,679 Speaker 1: of the century when blacks were paraded as freaks in 480 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:44,560 Speaker 1: the vaudeville shows and natural history museums of Europe and America. Yeah, 481 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:49,480 Speaker 1: he was certainly not the only instance of this happening. Uh, 482 00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:53,080 Speaker 1: But this really became a case where people thought, like 483 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:55,359 Speaker 1: this is correctable, like we can at least make this 484 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:59,439 Speaker 1: a better situation. And so the Spanish government and the 485 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:02,840 Speaker 1: organization and of African community really worked in collaboration to 486 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:05,919 Speaker 1: try to convince the Darter Museum to just acquiesce to 487 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:09,720 Speaker 1: this request and finally let Elne grow go home. Curators 488 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 1: at the museum it seemed like they almost based on 489 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:15,359 Speaker 1: what I've read, I mean, I haven't seen interviews with 490 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 1: these people are seen their firsthand accounts, but the way 491 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,640 Speaker 1: it reads, it sounds almost like they were just kind 492 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:24,239 Speaker 1: of briskly that they were hurt that they had been 493 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:29,200 Speaker 1: called racists, and so is that really tricky thing where 494 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 1: they were like, no, we're really respectful about this display, 495 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:34,760 Speaker 1: and we put it in context. Uh, you know, we 496 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:37,439 Speaker 1: talked about the history and the nature of exploration and 497 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:41,000 Speaker 1: specimen collection in the early eighteen hundreds, and but eventually 498 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 1: they kind of saw the error of that whole logic loop, 499 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 1: and so they did give into this request and the 500 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:51,520 Speaker 1: body was finally released. A medical examination was performed on 501 00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:55,200 Speaker 1: a preserved body, and it's believed that elniegrow died of 502 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:57,920 Speaker 1: a lung infection at the age of about twenty seven 503 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:02,760 Speaker 1: and eight. Dater X exhibition brochure claims that the Verreau 504 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 1: Whethers attended the man's funeral and then stole his body 505 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:10,600 Speaker 1: later that night, although there's no way to verify these claims. Yeah, 506 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:12,120 Speaker 1: we don't know if that was written to be like 507 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,600 Speaker 1: a sensational museum card or if that's the actual case. 508 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:18,880 Speaker 1: It certainly does line up a little bit with Jules 509 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:23,960 Speaker 1: Verreaux's letter to the Parisian uh museum head where he 510 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:26,000 Speaker 1: kind of says, like we had to sneakily get this 511 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,640 Speaker 1: while his body was being guarded, but we don't really 512 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:32,280 Speaker 1: have a solid exact timeline of how that all played out. Well, 513 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:35,760 Speaker 1: and then like, in my mind, if that part is true, 514 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:38,200 Speaker 1: if that's really what they did, like that makes it 515 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:42,760 Speaker 1: even worse. Yes, exactly, because like there are lots of 516 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 1: times in history where where people of one group have 517 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:48,040 Speaker 1: sort of felt like people of another group were not 518 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:51,600 Speaker 1: human beings. That doesn't make it okay. I'm not saying 519 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:54,920 Speaker 1: that's okay or that that justifies anything. But if you 520 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:57,640 Speaker 1: have just literally watched somebody have a funeral for their 521 00:29:57,640 --> 00:29:59,760 Speaker 1: fallen kinsman and then you go and steal his body, 522 00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:03,000 Speaker 1: like there is no way that you're justifying to yourself 523 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 1: that that that was not a human being, right, it 524 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 1: just becomes really reprehensible at that point. It's like it 525 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:11,840 Speaker 1: was represensible already, and but now it's like fifty times 526 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:17,400 Speaker 1: more than it already was. Exactly, It's really it's just yeah. 527 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:20,440 Speaker 1: Uh So, while it was never confirmed either whether or 528 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 1: not the man had originally been from Botswana, he was 529 00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:26,120 Speaker 1: returned there in two thousand to be reinterred, and he 530 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,520 Speaker 1: was buried in a state funeral in Gabarone after several 531 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 1: days of visitation, during which huge crowds of people turned 532 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:35,200 Speaker 1: out just to pay their respects to this unknown man. 533 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:39,440 Speaker 1: At the funeral, Foreign Minister Lieutenant General mom Patti Murafe 534 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:42,800 Speaker 1: said in his speech today, a hundred and seventy years later, 535 00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:45,800 Speaker 1: we're gathered here not only to re enter the body 536 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:49,320 Speaker 1: in African soil, where it likely belongs, but also to 537 00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:52,960 Speaker 1: cleanse that act of desecration, restore the dignity of a 538 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:57,280 Speaker 1: common ancestor, to appease the spirits of Africa, and above all, 539 00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:00,840 Speaker 1: to correct or wrong, which has no statute of limitations. 540 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:04,040 Speaker 1: So I thought it was going to be about cute lemurs, 541 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:06,560 Speaker 1: and it was about something, and then it became different, 542 00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:08,720 Speaker 1: which is really sort of a more important story. It's 543 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:10,520 Speaker 1: not sort of. It really is a more important story 544 00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:12,560 Speaker 1: to tell. It just wasn't what I thought I was 545 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 1: getting into at the beginning. But I'm glad that that 546 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:18,120 Speaker 1: came to light as I was researching, because I remember 547 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:20,200 Speaker 1: the oh I got to do something on the Robe brothers, 548 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:23,680 Speaker 1: their taxidermists. They discovered all these animals whoa they did 549 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:28,480 Speaker 1: horrible things. WHOA. You and I have these conversations sometimes 550 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:31,440 Speaker 1: while you're researching at your desk and I'm researching at 551 00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:34,600 Speaker 1: my desk, and we have these instant message things where 552 00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:38,560 Speaker 1: like one of us is expressing horror or delight or 553 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:41,600 Speaker 1: surprise or whatever, and I like, I got this. I 554 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:43,520 Speaker 1: think it was I am and I am from you. 555 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:49,959 Speaker 1: You were like this turned out really really upsetting. I 556 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:54,880 Speaker 1: didn't think this was happening. But again, like I said, 557 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:58,640 Speaker 1: that's an important story to tell. And you know, we 558 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:00,960 Speaker 1: were certainly around when all of this was happening in 559 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 1: the late but I don't really remember seeing anything about it. 560 00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:08,719 Speaker 1: Well I don't remember, which could just be me. I 561 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:11,120 Speaker 1: wasn't tuned into it, but yeah, and I think I 562 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:14,320 Speaker 1: probably I don't know if I heard specifically about it 563 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:17,120 Speaker 1: or not. Like there has been enough in the last 564 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:22,400 Speaker 1: few decades, uh, controversy and debate about repatriation of various 565 00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:26,480 Speaker 1: artifacts and things, um that it's like I don't know 566 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:29,960 Speaker 1: if among hearing about those stories, I also heard about 567 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:33,640 Speaker 1: this one or not. It definitely I don't remember specifically 568 00:32:33,680 --> 00:32:35,720 Speaker 1: hearing about it. Yeah, I did not stick out of 569 00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:45,400 Speaker 1: my mind. Uh, But how's the Scoop, Hey so much 570 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:48,480 Speaker 1: for joining us on this Saturday. Since this episode is 571 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:50,560 Speaker 1: out of the archive, if you heard an email address 572 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:52,920 Speaker 1: or a Facebook ur L or something similar over the 573 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:56,080 Speaker 1: course of the show, that could be obsolete now. Our 574 00:32:56,120 --> 00:33:00,680 Speaker 1: current email address is History podcast at i hear radio 575 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:03,840 Speaker 1: dot com. Our old house stuff works, email at us 576 00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,480 Speaker 1: no longer works, and you can find us all over 577 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:10,160 Speaker 1: social media at missed in History. 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