The Adventures of Louis de Rougemont

From the opening

And to her People, my True and Streadfast Friends, who never wavered in their confidence or attachment, and to whom I owe the Preservation of my Life,

Early life--Leaving home--I meet Jensen--I go pearling--Daily routine--Submarine beauties--A fortune in pearls--Seized by an octopus--Shark-killing extraordinary--Trading with the natives--Impending trouble--Preparing for the attack--Baffling the savages.

I was born in or near Paris, in the year 1844. My father was a fairly prosperous man of business--a general merchant, to be precise, who dealt largely in shoes; but when I was about ten years old, my mother, in consequence of certain domestic differences, took me to live with her at Montreux, and other places in Switzerland, where I was educated. I visited many of the towns near Montreux, including Lausanne, Geneva, Neufchatel, &c. The whole of the time I was at school I mixed extensively with English boys on account of their language and sports, both of which attracted me.

Boys soon begin to display their bent, and mine, curiously enough, was in the direction of geology. I was constantly bringing home pieces of stone and minerals picked up in the streets and on the mountains, and asking questions about their origin and history. My dear mother encouraged me in this, and later on I frequently went to Freiburg, in the Black Forest, to get a practical insight into smelting. When I was about nineteen, however, a message arrived from my father, directing me to return to France and report myself as a conscript; but against this my mother resolutely set her face. I fancy my father wanted me to take up the army as a career, but in deference to my mother's wishes I remained with her in Switzerland for some time longer. She and I had many talks about my future, and she at length advised me to take a trip to the East, and see what the experience of travel would do for me.

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