Surviving Nearly 2 Years of Shipwreck on a South Pacific Island in the 1880s

History Unplugged Podcast

Today, half of the world’s population lives around the Pacific Rim. This ocean has been the crossroads of international travel, trade, and commerce for at least 500 years. The economy was driven by workers in rickety sailing boats like in Moby Dick. The risk of starvation, dehydration, shipwreck, sinking, and death began as soon as you stepped out into open water.

Today, we’re going to zero in on one of those stories. On December 10, 1887, a shark fishing boat disappeared. On board the doomed vessel were the Walkers—the ship’s captain Frederick, his wife Elizabeth, their three teenage sons, and their dog—along with the ship’s crew. The family had spotted a promising fishing location when a terrible storm arose, splitting their vessel in two.

The Walker family was shipwrecked on a deserted island in the South Pacific. The survivors soon discovered that their island refuge was already inhabited by a ragged and emaciated man who introduced himself as Hans. This fellow castaway quickly educated the Walkers and their crew on the island’s resources. But Hans had a secret, and as the Walkers slowly came to learn more, the luck of having this mysterious stranger’s assistance would become something more ominous.

To look at this story and the wider world of Pacific maritime life – and death – we are joined by today’s guest, Matthew Pearl, author of “Save our Souls: The True Story of a Castaway Family, Treachery, and Murder.”

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