1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,119 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome 3 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:16,079 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly 4 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: Fry And today's episode is a sponsored one. It's sponsored 5 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,639 Speaker 1: by the All New Explorer. They asked us to do 6 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: something that was related in some way to exploration and 7 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 1: then left it totally up to us how did we 8 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: want to interpret that? So of course we had a 9 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:34,000 Speaker 1: big pile of ideas at the ready that fit in 10 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,879 Speaker 1: some way for that theme, and we finally decided to 11 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 1: talk about Jan Boret, who was the first woman known 12 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: to circumnavigate the globe. But her experience was not just 13 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: about the travel like a lot of the women travelers 14 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,319 Speaker 1: that we have talked about, we're traveling to explore, uh, 15 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: just mostly because they had disposable income and you know, 16 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: had the means and the money to to do that 17 00:00:57,560 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: kind of thing, and sometimes to do other work alongside 18 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: all the travel. But like the travel was a major 19 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: piece of it. She was working, and the work she 20 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: was doing was taking her to places that were totally 21 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: unexpected for somebody of her gender and her economic class 22 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:13,759 Speaker 1: in the eighteenth century. Jean Barret was born on July 23 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: seventeen forty to Jean Barret and Jeanne Puscha. They lived 24 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 1: in La Camel, France, which is roughly two hundred miles 25 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: that's about three hundred twenty kilometers southeast of Paris. This 26 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,320 Speaker 1: is a rural, agricultural area, and Jeanne's father worked as 27 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 1: a day laborer. He did not own any land or 28 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: always have access to steady work, so the Beret family 29 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,720 Speaker 1: and others who were similarly situated were some of the 30 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: poorest people in that part of Europe. We really know 31 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:45,640 Speaker 1: almost nothing about her upbringing or her early life, but 32 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: she might have been trained as an herb woman, so 33 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: somebody who knew how to grow and forage and prepare 34 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: medicinal herbs. This is something that she would have learned 35 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: from other women based on knowledge that was mostly passed 36 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: down orally. We do know that when she was in 37 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 1: her early twenties, Barret started working for a man named 38 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: Philibert Commerson, who was about twelve years older than she was. 39 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:09,079 Speaker 1: He was from an affluent family and was formally educated 40 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:12,639 Speaker 1: in both medicine and botany. He much preferred botany, though, 41 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: and he never established a medical practice. Yeah, and the 42 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,839 Speaker 1: grand scheme of like social and economic circumstances, they were 43 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: nearly opposite. Instead of going into that medical practice, Commerceon 44 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:29,079 Speaker 1: established a botanical garden in Chateagnon led Dome. In the 45 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: late seventeen fifties, he visited Voltaire and one of his 46 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:36,200 Speaker 1: colleagues was Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, who was the person 47 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 1: who helped establish that system of binomial nomenclature that is 48 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 1: still used to classify organisms today, although that system, of 49 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: course has evolved a lot since then. Linnaeus secured a 50 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 1: commission from the Queen of Sweden for Commerceon to catalog 51 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: Mediterranean fish. So in addition to his work as a botanist, 52 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:59,799 Speaker 1: he was also an ichthyologist. So if Barret was already 53 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: rained as an herb woman, it would have made a 54 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: lot of sense for Commerson to hire her. There is 55 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: a twenty three page table of medicinal plants arranged in 56 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:12,359 Speaker 1: order of their virtues and according to the healing indications 57 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: that is among Commerceonce papers, which biographer Glenn's Ridley suggests 58 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: was actually Barret's work. If that is correct, and if 59 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: the knowledge contained in that notebook was something that Barret 60 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 1: had already learned before being hired. She would have been 61 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: a very clear help to Commerceon's botany work from day one, 62 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:32,639 Speaker 1: but it appears that at least at first, commerce On 63 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: hired Beret not as a botany assistant, but as as 64 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: a domestic servant, and that would have been more stable 65 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 1: and financially lucrative than what the family had been experiencing 66 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: as day laborers. We don't know exactly when she started 67 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: working for him, her formal employment sort of in seventeen 68 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: sixty four, but she seems to have also been working 69 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: with him in some capacity before that. It's possible that 70 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: she started working there just after the death of Commerceon's 71 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: wife at the age of party four. That happened shortly 72 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: after she gave birth to their child, and it's possible 73 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: that part of Bret's role working for him was to 74 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: help care for this newborn. Ultimately, though, the baby was 75 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: sent to live with an uncle, and at some point 76 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:18,720 Speaker 1: Beret and Commerceen's relationship became more personal rather than employer 77 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:23,720 Speaker 1: and employee. In seventeen sixty four, Bret became pregnant. Unmarried 78 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: women were legally required to register their pregnancies, including naming 79 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: the baby's father. Beret did register her pregnancy on August twenty, 80 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:36,479 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty four, but she traveled to another town to 81 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: do it, and she took two men with her as 82 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: character witnesses. They maintained that she had been assaulted by 83 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,359 Speaker 1: an unknown man and that that assault had resulted in 84 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: her pregnancy. This baby was almost certainly Commerceons, with the 85 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: character witnesses being a part of an effort to cover 86 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: up what would have been something truly scandalous if people 87 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: had actually known the facts of the situation. Barre and 88 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: commerceon to Paris together in September of seventeen sixty four. 89 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 1: She was given a salary of a hundred livres a year. 90 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: They lived near the Jardin le Loois or the Royal Gardens, 91 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,839 Speaker 1: which is today known as the Jardin des plant In 92 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: January of seventeen sixty five, Barrets surrendered her baby, named 93 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: Jean Pierre, to a home for foundling children. Jean Pierre 94 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: was placed with the foster family, although he died a 95 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 1: couple of years later. The registry of Barret's pregnancy, Jean 96 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: Pierre's birth, and his fostering and death are all documented 97 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: in the historical record, but berets and commercials, thoughts and 98 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 1: feelings on these events really are not part of any 99 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:42,719 Speaker 1: of those documents. Within a few months of surrendering, Jean 100 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,600 Speaker 1: Pierre Barret and Commerceens were preparing for a voyage around 101 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: the world. This expedition of exploration and scientific discovery had 102 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: been authorized by King Louis the fifteenth, and it was 103 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:59,040 Speaker 1: meant as both an exploratory voyage and a scientific endeavor. 104 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:03,839 Speaker 1: Admiral Louis Antoine Comte Bougambille, who had served in the 105 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: Seven Years War, was in command of three hundred thirty 106 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:11,279 Speaker 1: men who were divided between two vessels, the Budeus, and 107 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,560 Speaker 1: in addition to being in command of the expedition as 108 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:19,039 Speaker 1: a whole, Boogambille was in command of the Boudous, and 109 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:22,120 Speaker 1: France was Chanard de la Giorde was in command of 110 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 1: the Three scientists had been recruited to participate in this expedition, Commarcon, 111 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:32,040 Speaker 1: who was acting as royal botanist and naturalist, astronomer Pierre 112 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:37,440 Speaker 1: Antoine Veron, and cartographer char Routier de Ville. Among his 113 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:40,159 Speaker 1: other duties. Commercon was one of the people helping to 114 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:44,080 Speaker 1: plan the expedition's route. Commercant was given a budget to 115 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: hire an assistant naturalist to take on this voyage to 116 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:51,360 Speaker 1: help him collect and catalog specimens and to illustrate what 117 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: they found, but he could not take jam Barre, at 118 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 1: least not legally. It had been illegal for women to 119 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:02,359 Speaker 1: be on French naval ships for anything other than a 120 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:07,039 Speaker 1: brief visit, since nine officers who broke this rule could 121 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: be suspended for a month and sailors who broke it 122 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 1: could be sentenced to fifteen days in chains. There is 123 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: a lot that we don't know about the dynamics between 124 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: Commercion and Barret. There were obvious and meaningful disparities between 125 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: the two of them, especially when it came to power 126 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 1: and wealth, stemming from both their relative social class and 127 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: their genders, and as well as him being her employer. 128 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: But at the same time, what happens next suggests that 129 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: Barret was in this relationship willingly, and we're gonna get 130 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:42,240 Speaker 1: into that after we first pause for a little sponsor break. 131 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: As they were preparing for their expedition around the world, 132 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 1: Philibert commercial wrote out a will and that bequeathed his 133 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: actual property to his son, but it also made it 134 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 1: clear that all of the women, men's clothes, and similar 135 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: possessions in his home belonged to his housekeeper, Jambret, to 136 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:09,840 Speaker 1: whom he left the household, furnishings and linen's along with 137 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 1: six livres. The will also gave her the right to 138 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: live in his home for a year after the date 139 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 1: of his death, during which time she would organize his 140 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 1: specimens and manuscripts and then send them onto the Royal collection. 141 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:26,400 Speaker 1: The will makes it sound as though jean Barret was 142 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 1: staying behind while he was going on this expedition, and 143 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:33,560 Speaker 1: it also noted that she was sometimes known as Jean 144 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: de Bonnefoy. Barret was not staying behind, though. Instead commerceam 145 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: maintained that he had not been able to find a 146 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:43,440 Speaker 1: workable assistant to go with him on this voyage in 147 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 1: spite of all of his efforts to do so. Then 148 00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: Jeanne Barret, dressed in men's clothing and using the name Bonafoy, 149 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: arrived at the port of Rochefort, maintaining that she was 150 00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 1: looking for work. Commerson hired the disguised beret on the spot, 151 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:01,679 Speaker 1: and from that going on for much of the expedition, 152 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: he consistently referred to her as male. Based on everything 153 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: we know about the situation, this was a disguise and 154 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 1: not reflection of her gender, so we will keep referring 155 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:13,640 Speaker 1: to her as a woman. Uh. This whole ruse seems 156 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:18,680 Speaker 1: like kind of a stretch to me. Um the idea 157 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:21,480 Speaker 1: that he would have just hired a random person on 158 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: the spot, having failed to find somebody that met actual 159 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 1: criteria for a botanists assistant on this voyage, But it 160 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:32,240 Speaker 1: seems like everyone thought that was it made sense. I 161 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 1: guess that he hired an apparently random person at the dock. 162 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: I feel like this is one of those things where 163 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:41,960 Speaker 1: it's like the excuse checklist of like, look, you all 164 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: know who this is, and I know who this is, 165 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:45,680 Speaker 1: and she knows you all know who this is, but 166 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:49,560 Speaker 1: we have, um, you know, we've checked all the boxes 167 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:51,680 Speaker 1: for all you know, you can say you thought it 168 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 1: was a dude the whole time. Yeah, this is um. 169 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:58,040 Speaker 1: This is also really to me the moment that if 170 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 1: if she had wanted to get out of this situation, 171 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:03,839 Speaker 1: it would have been easy enough to not show up, 172 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:08,240 Speaker 1: which definitely would have been a reduction in the in 173 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:10,960 Speaker 1: the opportunities that were available to her. She probably would 174 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:13,199 Speaker 1: have had to go back home and and try to 175 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:15,959 Speaker 1: find some kind of other employment. But this this would 176 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:18,680 Speaker 1: have been an easier moment for her to kind of 177 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:20,880 Speaker 1: slip away if she did not actually want to go 178 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:25,360 Speaker 1: on this voyage. So the Atoll and the Budeau's planned 179 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:29,160 Speaker 1: to cross the Atlantic separately, traveling southwest across the Atlantic 180 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 1: Ocean to rendezvous at Rio in June of seventeen sixty seven. 181 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:36,800 Speaker 1: From there, they would sail south along the coast of 182 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:40,160 Speaker 1: South America and through the Strait of Magellan. Then they 183 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:43,959 Speaker 1: would follow the western coast of South America before turning 184 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,640 Speaker 1: west across the Southern Pacific. Then to return to Europe, 185 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:50,080 Speaker 1: they would travel through the East Indies and around the 186 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 1: Horn of Africa, then back north, obviously back to Europe, 187 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:57,840 Speaker 1: and they would make stops all along the way, gathering specimens, 188 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:01,640 Speaker 1: making maps, recording of the people in places they saw. 189 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 1: They would also claim land where they could, and in 190 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: one case they would give it up. One stop on 191 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:11,679 Speaker 1: the voyage involved surrendering the Falkland Islands to Spain. Commercant 192 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:15,840 Speaker 1: and Barret were to sail aboard the Atoil when they embarked. 193 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:18,319 Speaker 1: Commercon had so much equipment with him that he was 194 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:22,480 Speaker 1: given the captain's stateroom as his quarters. The captain's stateroom 195 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:24,720 Speaker 1: had its own private baths, which would have made it 196 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: easier for Barret to conceal her sex while on board. 197 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:32,040 Speaker 1: The idea of easy is really relative here, though for 198 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 1: almost two years Barret maintained a disguise that required her 199 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: to bind her breasts. Today's chest binders are usually made 200 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:43,920 Speaker 1: with synthetic elastic fibers, which have some stretch, but these 201 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: materials had not been invented yet when Barret was living. 202 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,160 Speaker 1: She would have been using bandages or strips of cloth, 203 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:53,000 Speaker 1: and giving the materials that were available at the time, 204 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 1: they wouldn't have been very stretchy or giving at all. 205 00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:58,480 Speaker 1: This would have made this whole process a lot more 206 00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:02,560 Speaker 1: uncomfortable and difficult, with the bindings also prone to slipping 207 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:06,360 Speaker 1: and shifting during the day. Working as Commerceal's assistant also 208 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:08,720 Speaker 1: required by Ray to do a lot of physical work 209 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:11,600 Speaker 1: in all kinds of weather and climate conditions, from the 210 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:14,559 Speaker 1: tropics to the far southern tip of South America, which 211 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:19,079 Speaker 1: is almost in the Antarctic circle. So even before accounting 212 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: for the difficulties of travel and the work itself, Barret's 213 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:26,719 Speaker 1: job was inherently uncomfortable, often unpleasant, and very physically demanding. 214 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:30,320 Speaker 1: Added to that, there were storms that seriously damaged the 215 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:33,280 Speaker 1: ship and periods where they were becalmed and ran out 216 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 1: of food. Illnesses spread among the crew, and there was 217 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:41,200 Speaker 1: intense seasickness at sea, and that often affected both Barret 218 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:44,960 Speaker 1: and commerceal so he was able to spend time out 219 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,240 Speaker 1: on deck that a lot of the time will help 220 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:50,640 Speaker 1: with seasickness because you can see the way the boat 221 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:54,600 Speaker 1: is moving. But Barret didn't have that option. She really 222 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: had to weather all this in the confines of Commerceons 223 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,160 Speaker 1: quarters to try to protect her privacy and her identity. 224 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: That would not have been a particularly comfortable place to 225 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:08,320 Speaker 1: try to ride that out. Even though bare meticulously maintained 226 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 1: her disguise and Commerce and scrupulously addressed and referred to 227 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:15,480 Speaker 1: her as a man, Rumors began to spread throughout the 228 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: ship that they were carrying a woman in disguise, and 229 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:21,520 Speaker 1: that happened not long after the Atwall set sail from 230 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:26,640 Speaker 1: Rochefort on December fourteenth, seventeen sixty six, and naturally, suspicion 231 00:13:26,679 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 1: fell on Barret, who, among other things, did not have 232 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:32,840 Speaker 1: facial hair and didn't use the communal toilet facilities for 233 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:35,800 Speaker 1: the crew who shared her rank. Obviously, there are plenty 234 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:37,600 Speaker 1: of men who don't have facial hair, but that was 235 00:13:37,640 --> 00:13:40,960 Speaker 1: one of the things that drew suspicion to her. On 236 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:45,320 Speaker 1: March seventeen sixty seven, the Atwall crossed from the northern 237 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: to the Southern hemisphere, and the ship's crew had sort 238 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:51,080 Speaker 1: of a ritual baptism and quotation marks for people who 239 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 1: hadn't previously crossed the equator. The details of this hazing 240 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:58,760 Speaker 1: ritual differed depending on the person's rank and for the 241 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:02,959 Speaker 1: officers servant, which was how Barret was classified. It involved 242 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 1: being made to drop into a pool made of a 243 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 1: sail cloth that was being dragged alongside the ship. The 244 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 1: people who were having to do this we're also blackened 245 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:14,680 Speaker 1: with soot and prevented from getting out of the water. 246 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:18,160 Speaker 1: And because of all this water and mess involved, the 247 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: men who were being made to undertake this ritual usually 248 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 1: did it partly or completely nude. Because she was a woman, 249 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:27,920 Speaker 1: Barret would have had to do this still dressed. Uh. 250 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:31,120 Speaker 1: Commerceone does describe this ritual in his journal, but he 251 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: doesn't make any reference to Barret's participation in it eventually 252 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: at twas Captain France Swash and now de la Girode, 253 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: was obligated to investigate the rumors about a woman on 254 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 1: board his ship. Apart from it being unlawful for anyone 255 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: to bring a woman on board, the rumors and efforts 256 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 1: to figure out whether they were true, we're clearly causing 257 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 1: a disruption. According to his logs, he questioned Barret about 258 00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:58,800 Speaker 1: her gender, and she told him that she was a eunuch, 259 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 1: framing it in terms of the men who guarded the 260 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: Ottoman Empire, this seems to have at least temporarily stopped 261 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 1: the suspicion, or at least reigned in the sailor's harassment 262 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:11,600 Speaker 1: of her to try to figure out if she was 263 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: a woman in disguise. The Ottoman Empire's implementation of slavery 264 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:21,320 Speaker 1: included enslaving Christian men, although this practice was at least 265 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:26,040 Speaker 1: officially ended before this voyage was taking place, but horror 266 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:28,960 Speaker 1: stories about it still circulated in a lot of Europe, 267 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:32,040 Speaker 1: and the idea of being captured and enslaved and then 268 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 1: castrated by the Ottoman Empire was frightening and disturbing. That 269 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: probably led to the sailors treating Barret with a little 270 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:43,160 Speaker 1: more kindness than they had before. After this interrogation, the 271 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:47,040 Speaker 1: captain did put a stop to Barret sleeping in Commerson's quarters. 272 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 1: From that point, Barret was always armed, especially when she 273 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:55,840 Speaker 1: slept or went ashore together specimens. Commerceng was frequently ill, 274 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:58,200 Speaker 1: and he had an abscess on his leg that didn't 275 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:00,800 Speaker 1: want to heal. So it was often Barret and not 276 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:04,040 Speaker 1: Commerceon who was doing the botany work on shore, and 277 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:06,640 Speaker 1: she was often doing it without him or anyone else 278 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:09,560 Speaker 1: to protect her. The plants that they collected in the 279 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: earlier part of this voyage included the one that they 280 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:16,560 Speaker 1: named bougun Bia spectabilis, or the great Bugambilla, which is 281 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:20,520 Speaker 1: the name, of course for Bougambi, the commander of this expedition. 282 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 1: It's still cultivated a lot as an ornamental plant today. 283 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:27,640 Speaker 1: That's very lovely blossoms, and Barret was likely the person 284 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:32,080 Speaker 1: who gathered it. Others aboard the atual eventually discovered Jean 285 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:36,440 Speaker 1: Barret's sex, but accounts disagree on exactly when this happened 286 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:38,640 Speaker 1: or how, and we're going to get into that after 287 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 1: we have one more little sponsor break. Louis wrote the 288 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:54,160 Speaker 1: account that's most often cited as far as how Jan 289 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:58,080 Speaker 1: Beret was discovered to be a woman. This isn't just 290 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:00,760 Speaker 1: because he was in command of the whole expedition and 291 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:03,200 Speaker 1: was one of the most prominent people on it. It's 292 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:06,600 Speaker 1: also because, unlike the authors of all the other accounts, 293 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:09,360 Speaker 1: he later edited his journals into a book and had 294 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 1: them published. His account of the discovery is noted as 295 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:17,719 Speaker 1: having been written on May nine, seventeen sixty eight, about 296 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:21,720 Speaker 1: six weeks after the expedition left Tahiti, which was the 297 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:24,440 Speaker 1: first time that the French had actually seen this island. 298 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:28,119 Speaker 1: Buga Villa writes that some business called him over to 299 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:31,879 Speaker 1: the atoll and quote, I had an opportunity of verifying 300 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:35,240 Speaker 1: a very singular fact. For some time there was a 301 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 1: report in both ships that the servant of Monsieur de Commesson, 302 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:43,440 Speaker 1: named Barret, was a woman. His shape, voice, beardless chin, 303 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:47,399 Speaker 1: and scrupulous attention of not changing his linen or making 304 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:51,560 Speaker 1: the natural discharges in the presence of anyone besides several 305 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:55,359 Speaker 1: other signs had given rise to and kept up this suspicion. 306 00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:58,840 Speaker 1: He went on to describe Barret as an expert botanist 307 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:02,240 Speaker 1: who had worked along side Commercean with quote so much 308 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 1: courage and strength that the naturalist had called him his 309 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 1: beast of burden. He went on to write quote. A 310 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:12,600 Speaker 1: scene which passed at Tahiti changed this suspicion into certainty. 311 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: Monsieur de Commercon went on shore to botanize there. Baret 312 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 1: had hardly set his feet on shore with the herbal 313 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:22,440 Speaker 1: under his arm, when the men of Tahiti surrounded him 314 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:25,120 Speaker 1: cried out, it is a woman and wanted to give 315 00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:29,480 Speaker 1: her the honor's customary in the aisle. The Chevalier de Bernard, 316 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,360 Speaker 1: who was upon guard on shore, was obliged to come 317 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:36,280 Speaker 1: to her assistance and escort her to the boat. Okay, 318 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:39,600 Speaker 1: the honors customary to the aisle that he is referring to. 319 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 1: We should clarify the French had virtually no experience with 320 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:47,760 Speaker 1: Pacific island cultures at this point, and they really widely 321 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:51,200 Speaker 1: misinterpreted a lot of actions and gestures as being an 322 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:55,320 Speaker 1: offer or an expectation of sex. And this includes ceremonial 323 00:18:55,359 --> 00:18:58,520 Speaker 1: gifts of cloth which were given wrapped around a woman 324 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 1: or a girl's body, along with various dances and a 325 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:06,840 Speaker 1: general acceptance of nudity is being socially acceptable. Also, bogambia 326 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:10,679 Speaker 1: Is writing about Tahiti and Tahitians in his journal really 327 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 1: spread a highly romanticized idea of the island and reinforced 328 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:18,040 Speaker 1: the idea of the quote noble savage that was being 329 00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:21,400 Speaker 1: spread at the time by romantic writers like Jean Jacques Rousseaux. 330 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:25,440 Speaker 1: According to Bougaville, the discovery changed the tone of Baret's 331 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 1: relationship to the rest of the crew quote. After that period, 332 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:33,199 Speaker 1: it was difficult to prevent the sailors from alarming her modesty. 333 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:35,800 Speaker 1: When I came on board the Atoi Barret with her 334 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:38,879 Speaker 1: face based in tears, owned to me that she was 335 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,919 Speaker 1: a woman. She said that she had deceived her master 336 00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: at Rochefort by offering to serve him in men's clothes 337 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:48,359 Speaker 1: at the very moment when he was embarking that she 338 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:52,119 Speaker 1: had already before served a geneva gentleman at Paris in 339 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,520 Speaker 1: quality of a valet. That being born in Burgundy and 340 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,440 Speaker 1: become an orphan, the loss of a lawsuit had brought 341 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:01,680 Speaker 1: her to a distress situation and inspired her with the 342 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:05,120 Speaker 1: resolution to disguise her sex that she well knew when 343 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 1: she embarked that we were going round the world and 344 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:11,720 Speaker 1: that such a voyage had raised her curiosity. Although Boa 345 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:15,320 Speaker 1: had grounds to be angry with both Commercial and Barret 346 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,360 Speaker 1: because they had been deceiving everyone on board and her 347 00:20:18,359 --> 00:20:22,000 Speaker 1: presence on the ship was unlawful, he finishes his account 348 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 1: of what happened in a way that's relatively respectaful, at 349 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:29,200 Speaker 1: least for part of it. After alluding to this trip 350 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:31,399 Speaker 1: around the world, he wrote, quote, she will be the 351 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:33,919 Speaker 1: first woman that ever made it, and I must do 352 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,399 Speaker 1: her the justice to affirm that she has always behaved 353 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:40,920 Speaker 1: on board with the most scrupulous modesty. And then it 354 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 1: gets into the parts that's maybe less respectful. Quote she 355 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:46,399 Speaker 1: is neither ugly nor handsome, and is no more than 356 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:49,120 Speaker 1: twenty six or twenty seven years of age. It must 357 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,040 Speaker 1: be owned that if the two ships had been wrecked 358 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 1: on any desert isle in the ocean, Barret's bait would 359 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 1: have been a very singular one. Another account also connects 360 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:01,240 Speaker 1: the discovery of her sex to Tahiti, or at least 361 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 1: to a Tahitian person. A man named Ahu Turu, who 362 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:07,760 Speaker 1: was a chieftain's brother, learned French while the expedition was 363 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:10,640 Speaker 1: in Tahiti and asked to be taken to France. When 364 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:14,719 Speaker 1: they departed, he described Barret as mahou, which is a 365 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:18,399 Speaker 1: term used in several Pacific island cultures to signify a 366 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:23,000 Speaker 1: third gender. After colonization by European powers, in many places, 367 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:27,200 Speaker 1: that term took on a disparaging connotation connected to cross dressing, 368 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:32,159 Speaker 1: and that being a pejorative term. A Hutaru died of 369 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:35,399 Speaker 1: smallpox before the voyage got back to France, however, but 370 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,720 Speaker 1: most of the other accounts placed this discovery of Jehan 371 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:41,960 Speaker 1: sex later and July of seventeen sixty eight on the 372 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,560 Speaker 1: island of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea, not in 373 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:49,760 Speaker 1: May in Tahiti. The ship's log for July eighteenth, seventeen 374 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 1: sixty eight reads quote the physician Monsieur Commercon's domestic was 375 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,239 Speaker 1: discovered to be a girl who until now passed as 376 00:21:56,280 --> 00:22:00,639 Speaker 1: a boy. Ships surgeon Flais Vives wrote about several moments 377 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,800 Speaker 1: in Baret's time on board. In his journals, he wrote 378 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,080 Speaker 1: of rumors about a woman in disguise, and then the 379 00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:09,320 Speaker 1: captain's putting a stop to Barets sleeping in commercial's cabin. 380 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: He writes as though he was present when the captain 381 00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:15,119 Speaker 1: interrogated Bahret, and that she said she was a eunuch. 382 00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:18,359 Speaker 1: This account of the discovery includes a reference to a 383 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: body song about a woman named Geniton who was accosted 384 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,280 Speaker 1: by foreman in a field, suggesting that some of the 385 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:29,320 Speaker 1: crew may have physically assaulted her to figure out her sex. Yeah, 386 00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:32,080 Speaker 1: most of his writing about her comes off as pretty gross. 387 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:35,199 Speaker 1: The Prince of Nassaucigen, who was on board as a 388 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:39,280 Speaker 1: paying passenger, also alluded to the discovery of Barret's sex 389 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:41,879 Speaker 1: and said quote, I want to give her all the 390 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:45,360 Speaker 1: credit for her bravery, a far cry from the gentle 391 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:50,440 Speaker 1: pastimes afforded her sex. She dared confront the stress, the dangers, 392 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:53,919 Speaker 1: and everything that happened that one could realistically expect on 393 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:57,640 Speaker 1: such a voyage. Her adventure should, I think, be included 394 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:01,360 Speaker 1: in a history of famous women. All together. These other 395 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:04,800 Speaker 1: accounts suggest that Jeanne Barret was discovered to be a 396 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:08,200 Speaker 1: woman almost a month after bougun Via reported in his book. 397 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:11,399 Speaker 1: It's not clear whether he fiddled with the timeline to 398 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,480 Speaker 1: take suspicion off of himself in some way, or if 399 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:16,919 Speaker 1: this was just a matter of where it seemed to 400 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: fit while the journal was being edited. Regardless, though afterward, 401 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:24,840 Speaker 1: Barret continued dressing in masculine attire. That was what she 402 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 1: had with her, but she stopped binding her chest after 403 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:31,480 Speaker 1: her identity was known. For his part, commercong claimed that 404 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:35,000 Speaker 1: he was totally surprised with this entire revelation, writing that 405 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,399 Speaker 1: Beret was quote a courageous young woman who, taking the 406 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 1: clothing and temperament of a man and the curiosity and 407 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:45,640 Speaker 1: audacity to circumnavigate the world, accompanied us without us knowing it. 408 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: I think he might have been covering his own tail there. 409 00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 1: He really it is, I mean just bordering all on 410 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:57,879 Speaker 1: impossible that he would not have recognized her, and this 411 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: whole thing really did play out. Is just him hiring 412 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,360 Speaker 1: a random person at the dock like that? Just it's 413 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:05,920 Speaker 1: so far fetched, and he just seems to have kept 414 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,080 Speaker 1: up with this. Wow that turned out to be a woman. 415 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:14,360 Speaker 1: I didn't have any idea. Again, checklist reasonable deniability, uh. 416 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:20,160 Speaker 1: Bougaville's expedition left New Ireland on July eight. By December, 417 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:22,920 Speaker 1: they had traveled across the Indian Ocean toward the eastern 418 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,240 Speaker 1: coast of Africa. On December twelve, the ships left a 419 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:29,040 Speaker 1: small island now known as Mauritius, which was then a 420 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:32,800 Speaker 1: French colony known as e Defals. They left without Beret 421 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:37,120 Speaker 1: or Commerceal on board. Commerceal had been released from the expedition. 422 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,280 Speaker 1: The ship's astronomer left at that time as well. On Mauritius, 423 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:45,399 Speaker 1: Commerceal Embrey continued to live together and pursue their botanical work. 424 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:48,960 Speaker 1: This included making an expedition to the island of Madagascar 425 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:54,480 Speaker 1: and documenting various things on Mauritius. The island's governor was 426 00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:58,359 Speaker 1: another botanist, a man named Pierre Plov, who had become 427 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,960 Speaker 1: friends with them, and it's pretty likely that Bogumba thought 428 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:03,800 Speaker 1: that it was best that they both be off the ship, 429 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:07,200 Speaker 1: and that a French colony with a friendly governor who 430 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:10,639 Speaker 1: was also a botanist made Mauritius the best situation they 431 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,840 Speaker 1: could probably find to accomplish getting them off the ship. 432 00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:17,159 Speaker 1: Cover Song and Barre lived together on Mauritius for about 433 00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:20,280 Speaker 1: five years. At first, they lived with Poava at the 434 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,320 Speaker 1: governor's residence, but when he was recalled to France they 435 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,880 Speaker 1: had to find their own lodgings. Commerceon had been chronically 436 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,320 Speaker 1: ill for much of their time together, and his condition 437 00:25:29,359 --> 00:25:33,320 Speaker 1: worsened in the early seventeen seventies. He died in seventeen 438 00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:37,919 Speaker 1: seventy three, leaving Barret without protection or support. So Barret 439 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:40,840 Speaker 1: once again found work, first working out a tavern and 440 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 1: then running one. On May seventeen, seventeen seventy four, she 441 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:49,320 Speaker 1: married a non commissioned officer named Jean du Barnand, and 442 00:25:49,359 --> 00:25:51,920 Speaker 1: by that point she'd been on Mauritius for seven years. 443 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:55,720 Speaker 1: It's not clear exactly when Barret returned to France, but 444 00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: when she did, that last leg of the journey made 445 00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:01,360 Speaker 1: her the first woman known to have navigated the globe. 446 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:05,280 Speaker 1: Boo Gambia intervened on her behalf after she got back 447 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:07,639 Speaker 1: to France to make sure she wouldn't be punished for 448 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,800 Speaker 1: her time aboard ship, and a point in her favor 449 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:13,199 Speaker 1: in his doing this was that he didn't think that 450 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,480 Speaker 1: her example would inspire other women to do something similar. 451 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:19,359 Speaker 1: He thought she'd just be the only woman ever to 452 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,480 Speaker 1: circumnavigate the globe, and that quote her example is not 453 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:26,280 Speaker 1: likely to be contagious. This line of logic really reminds 454 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:28,240 Speaker 1: me of the way that people talked about Srijuana and 455 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:30,720 Speaker 1: is Dela Cruz and how her becoming a nun was 456 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:33,000 Speaker 1: going to keep her from inspiring other women to be 457 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:39,520 Speaker 1: similarly iconoclastic in their behavior. Instead, the opposite wound up, 458 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:43,880 Speaker 1: happening to being punished. The French Ministry of Marine recognized 459 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:46,480 Speaker 1: her work with the expedition and awarded her a pension 460 00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:49,879 Speaker 1: of two livres per year, and then she also secured 461 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,160 Speaker 1: the money that Commerson had left her in his will, 462 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,520 Speaker 1: although by that point his death was long enough in 463 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:56,919 Speaker 1: the past that she didn't live in his house for 464 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:00,480 Speaker 1: a year. Not much as known about Jean Barret's last 465 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,199 Speaker 1: year's She did not get to do the cataloging of 466 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:06,200 Speaker 1: the collection that Commisson had hoped she would. Everything that 467 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 1: they had collected on bougun VI's expedition and afterward was 468 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:14,000 Speaker 1: either in storage or impounded after connissons death. However, since 469 00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:17,240 Speaker 1: the unorganized collection was not well known or associated with 470 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:19,920 Speaker 1: a prominent member of the nobility, it made it through 471 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:23,359 Speaker 1: the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror. Today, at 472 00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:27,720 Speaker 1: least six thousand specimens survive in museum collections, including the 473 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:31,040 Speaker 1: French National Museum of Natural History, part of which is 474 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:33,760 Speaker 1: on the site of the former Royal Gardens Yeah, a 475 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:37,320 Speaker 1: lot of that stuff still has its original handwritten labeling 476 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:42,680 Speaker 1: that was probably written by her. Jean Barret died in Saintavier, France, 477 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:47,760 Speaker 1: on August seven, and left her remaining property to Commerceans heirs. 478 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:51,240 Speaker 1: She was sixty seven. We know so little about Commisson's 479 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:54,480 Speaker 1: feelings towards her. He named a plant after her during 480 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:58,800 Speaker 1: the expedition, calling it Barettia bonafidia, although it turned out 481 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:01,520 Speaker 1: to be a species that had already been discovered and named, 482 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:04,600 Speaker 1: and he wrote of her very fondly. Here's a sample, 483 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:09,119 Speaker 1: cited in a biography published in three quote. Armed with 484 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:13,679 Speaker 1: a bow like Diana, armed with intelligence and seriousness, like Minerva, 485 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:17,160 Speaker 1: she eluded the snare of animals and men, not without 486 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 1: many times, risking her life and her honor. He also 487 00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:23,480 Speaker 1: praised her for doing all of this risky and difficult 488 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:26,920 Speaker 1: work without complaint. He did also call her his beast 489 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,600 Speaker 1: of burden, but he did that while trying to maintain 490 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:32,840 Speaker 1: this ruse that she was a man, and that really 491 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:35,800 Speaker 1: doesn't seem like a weird way for a man to 492 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:38,880 Speaker 1: talk about his male assistant at the time. Although the 493 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:42,520 Speaker 1: plant that Commercon named after her didn't stick, Barre did 494 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:46,000 Speaker 1: have a species permanently named for her in twelve. That 495 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:49,880 Speaker 1: was Solanum verita, which is part of a large and 496 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:53,040 Speaker 1: diverse plant genus that also includes the night shades. This 497 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:56,280 Speaker 1: particular species was selected to bear her name because of 498 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 1: its leaves, which are really variable in their shape and size. 499 00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:02,840 Speaker 1: This is also true of the species that Commercon had 500 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:06,120 Speaker 1: originally named after her, because he thought this very ability 501 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:08,640 Speaker 1: really reflected her life and her character, and like the 502 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:11,440 Speaker 1: fact that she had disguised herself as a man for 503 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:15,240 Speaker 1: so long and taken on so many jobs that were 504 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,520 Speaker 1: really unexpected for women at the time. Uh, my two 505 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:21,880 Speaker 1: cents are are that that is such a thoughtful way 506 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:25,080 Speaker 1: to look at the selection of her plant species that 507 00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:26,640 Speaker 1: he wanted to be named for her, that it does 508 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:31,480 Speaker 1: suggest a very genuine affection between the two of them. Yeah, 509 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:34,520 Speaker 1: her relationship with him definitely started as his hiring her 510 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: to do work, but a lot of their life together 511 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:41,200 Speaker 1: they really seem to live basically as common law spouses, 512 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:44,880 Speaker 1: not so much as employer and employee, especially once they 513 00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:47,480 Speaker 1: were off the expedition and she was no longer officially 514 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,360 Speaker 1: on his payroll, but they were continuing to live together 515 00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:53,240 Speaker 1: essentially as a couple. I feel like her story is 516 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:56,720 Speaker 1: pretty complicated. There's it's clearly that she went through so 517 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:02,920 Speaker 1: much difficulty and and possibly even violence while on that expedition. Um, 518 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:06,719 Speaker 1: but also the fact that she was from really the 519 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:10,760 Speaker 1: poorest class of people where she was living, and a woman, 520 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:14,280 Speaker 1: and was able to go on this round the world 521 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:19,560 Speaker 1: voyage which was just a whole like universe away from 522 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:22,520 Speaker 1: the possibilities that were open to people in that same situation. 523 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:26,520 Speaker 1: It's really incredible to me. She sounds kind of spectacular. 524 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:28,240 Speaker 1: That's the person I would use the time machine to 525 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:31,120 Speaker 1: go back and talk to. Ye. Do you have a 526 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:33,320 Speaker 1: little bit of listener mail for us? I knew it's 527 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:38,440 Speaker 1: from Alyssa and it's titled Hove to Dar Rebel, Latina activist, teacher, 528 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:42,600 Speaker 1: and Alyssa writes, I saw a small video on Dar 529 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:45,680 Speaker 1: which I've left linked in the bottom, and was greatly 530 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:49,600 Speaker 1: intrigued by her because she's from my hometown. I looked 531 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:51,560 Speaker 1: her up, but I feel like my research on her 532 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 1: would not do her memory justice. I love hearing your 533 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:57,600 Speaker 1: pieces on strong women and their quote unnatural ways for 534 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:00,720 Speaker 1: their time. I hope you all can help bring Hove 535 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:03,200 Speaker 1: to a dark to life, not just for me, but 536 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:06,760 Speaker 1: because she's just a kick ass Latina woman that deserves 537 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:09,120 Speaker 1: her name to be rung. Your podcast have gotten me 538 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,840 Speaker 1: through workouts, long trips, and workshifts, speaking of which, I've 539 00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:15,520 Speaker 1: been caught a handful of times by customers while listening 540 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:18,320 Speaker 1: to your podcast. My favorite of these times being while 541 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:21,680 Speaker 1: listening to Marie Lawrence song. I believe the line was 542 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:26,040 Speaker 1: about her fiance and all the customer heard was erotic novels, 543 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:28,719 Speaker 1: and then I paused it and then there is like 544 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:32,600 Speaker 1: the laughing emo. G Thank you again for your work 545 00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:34,800 Speaker 1: and dedication to the show. I hope hopefy to makes 546 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 1: it on the list soon. Best wishes, Alyssa. Thank you 547 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:40,239 Speaker 1: so much Alyssa for this email. I don't know if 548 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:42,360 Speaker 1: Hovita will make it onto the show because a quick 549 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:45,200 Speaker 1: search found that the information available on her is a 550 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:48,720 Speaker 1: little sin. That doesn't mean no, it means it might 551 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:53,200 Speaker 1: just take a while to gather enough resources or maybe 552 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:56,120 Speaker 1: a six impossible episodes entry at some point. I think 553 00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:58,800 Speaker 1: will be due for one of those before the end 554 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:02,239 Speaker 1: of the years. So thank you again Melissa for sending this. 555 00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:06,880 Speaker 1: I love that story about being overheard by a customer 556 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:09,120 Speaker 1: and being like, well, that was just totally the wrong 557 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,280 Speaker 1: time for maybe a customer to walk in on this podcast. 558 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:15,640 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us about this 559 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:19,040 Speaker 1: or any other podcast or history podcast at how stuff 560 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:21,240 Speaker 1: Works dot com and then we're all over social media 561 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:25,120 Speaker 1: at missed in History. That's where you'll find our Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, 562 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,520 Speaker 1: and Twitter. You can also come to our website, which 563 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:31,480 Speaker 1: is missed in History dot com and find the episodes 564 00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:34,320 Speaker 1: of our show. And you can subscribe to our show 565 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:37,560 Speaker 1: on Apple podcasts, the I heart radio app, and anywhere 566 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:44,960 Speaker 1: else to get your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History 567 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:47,760 Speaker 1: Class is a production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. 568 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:50,440 Speaker 1: For more podcasts, for my heart Radio, visit the i 569 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:53,600 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to 570 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:54,479 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.