17th C French sailor to be laid to rest

[Bluegill]

I thought this story was both fascinating and moving. Very cool. I recall seeing a documentary about it on TV, I think, a year or two ago.

news story (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&ncid=2026&e=5&u=/latimes_ts/20040203/ts_latimes/theendofa300yearjourney)


Fighting arthritis that left him with a jerky limp, he crawled into a damp cargo hold, climbed atop a pile of thick anchor rope and, it appears, waited to die. Today, more than 300 years later, he will finally have some peace.


Officials are planning to bury the remains of the 17th century French sailor at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, an austere place reserved for people who left a lasting impression on Texas — governors and generals and such. Historians believe it is the proper resting place for this lowly deckhand.



The story of his expedition--and its fate--is a pretty harrowing one. To quote one of the researchers, "When things start to go south, they go south."

May he rest in peace.

[Ian Osborne]

What an incredible story. I hope a programme like Horizon does a documentary about the ship in the future - it would be a fascinating subject.

[Tony]

Awesome story!!!

[Charlie Monoxide]

It's very refreshing to see Texans honoring a Frenchman.

Charlie (no mention of "Freedom Fries") Monoxide

[bjornart]

Fighting arthritis that left him with a jerky limp, he crawled into a damp cargo hold, climbed atop a pile of thick anchor rope and, it appears, waited to die. Today, more than 300 years later, he will finally have some peace.

Am I the only one who interpreted this as him being alive for 300 years? :D "Finally have some peace"? Bah, humbug. There's nowhere as peacefull as the sea bottom under a good layer of mud. And what matters peace to a corpse anyway? ;)