Freotheric

Annotations and comments

Freotheric has posted two annotations/comments since 25 June 2014.

The most recent first…

Comments

Second Reading

About Saturday 24 August 1661

Freotheric  •  Link

If the "great baboon" brought back by Captain Holmes was indeed a bonobo, it must have been a very hardy fellow to have survived a journey of 2500 miles in captivity, for the African traders can only have captured one south of the Congo – and extraordinarily lucky then to have survived another 3000 miles at sea in the conditions aboard an English ship. Was John Evelyn aware of the creature's existence? Or do any other diarists or letter-writers mention it?

About Monday 24 June 1661

Freotheric  •  Link

Midsummer is also a national holiday in Quebec, commemorating Jacques Cartier's claiming of Canada for the King of France on the Feast of Saint John the Baptist, June 24, 1534. "La Saint-Jean" has long been a day for huge public parades, bonfires, outdoor concerts, fireworks and neighbourhood festivities. Now officially known as "La fête nationale."