Chapter · Brazil · History
An island in the bay, and a fort
Five years of France Antarctique, and two Frenchmen calling each other liars
In 1555 Frenchmen settle on an island in the bay of Rio and call it France Antarctique. Five years later nothing is left. This path reads a survivor's account, published in 1578, which opens by demolishing another Frenchman's book and closes with what had to be eaten to get home.
Context first
A lesson to read before the others, to set the scene.
- The place
- The era
- The people
The lessons in this chapter
- 1Two Frenchmen, two accounts, and a liarTwo Frenchmen wrote about the same colony and accuse each other. Léry does not start with the facts but with a prior question: we never saw each other out there.10 min
- 2Weeping to say helloAmong the Tupinamba a visitor is welcomed by women weeping around his hammock and listing his merits. And the visitor must answer with sighs, even if he feels nothing.9 min
- 3They ate the shieldsOn the way back from Brazil the crew ate the provisions, then the monkeys and parrots they had brought, then the two Tupinamba shields Léry was carrying, grilled on the coals.9 min
How these lessons are written
Each lesson starts from first-hand sources: Wikisource, Gallica, Persée, archives, museums and institutes. A fact without a source does not get written, and every lesson lists its own as direct links.
The rhythm
A lesson is five minutes of cards and four questions. Those questions then come back the next day, then at 3, 7, 21 and 60 days, and that return is what makes it stick. One a day is enough, and you can do several in a row.