Jules Crevaux was born on April 1, 1847, in the north-eastern
French town of
Lorquin. He began to study medicine at the
University of Strasbourg before being transferred to the French Navy's medical school at
Brest. In 1868 he was assigned to the
Cérès as a medical assistant and served in
Senegal, the
French West Indies and
French Guiana. At the beginning of the
Franco-Prussian War in 1870, he volunteered to serve as a marine. He was sent to the
Loire Valley where he was wounded and captured by
Prussian forces on December 17, 1870. He escaped soon after and was wounded again on January 24, 1871. Following the war, he completed his medical studies and was granted his M.D.. He was appointed as chief physician on the
La Motte-Piquet. He was sent to the colony of
French Guiana in 1876. The interior of
French Guiana was virtually unknown and Crevaux decided to lead an exploration into its depths. On July 8, 1877, Crevaux traveled up the
Maroni River where he encountered the
Galibi and the
Bonis. He left the
Maroni to follow a tributary, the
Itany River, along the way he visited the
Roucouyenne and then followed an
Emerillon trail over the spine of the
Tumuk Humak Mountains. He descended the other side of the mountains to the
Jari River, a tributary of the Amazon. By December 1877 he had reached the
Brazilian city of
Belém. He was nearly naked and had lost or used most of his possessions, and was believed by the
Brazilian inhabitants to be an escaped French prisoner and was refused any help. He was eventually aided by a fellow Frenchman who bought him passage on a ship back to France. Upon returning to
France, Crevaux gave an account of his journey to the
Société de Géographie and was made a "Knight" of the
Légion d'honneur. Crevaux returned to
French Guiana in August 1878. He set out once again into the interior of
French Guiana, this time he traveled up the
Oyapock River to its source and again crossed the
Tumuk Humak Mountains, near his modern namesake, Crevaux Peak. He reached the
Jari River again and traveled west up the
Paru River and then came back down the
Amazon. In November 1878 he arrived in
Belém again. Crevaux soon left again up the
Amazon to explore the
Japurá River. He collected many biological specimens along the trip and returned to
France where he was awarded the Gold Medal of the
Société de Géographie. Crevaux was sent on a third expedition with a group of scientists with the purpose of collecting botanical specimens in
South America. The group traveled up the
Magdalena River, crossed the
Andes and descended the
Guaviare River, that he baptizes rio de Lesseps, to the
Orinoco River in Venezuelan territory. After having explored 3,400 km of river in 161 days arrived in the Orinoco delta in gulf of Paria, collected a large harvest of objects of botany, zoology and anthropology, Dr. Crevaux is exhausted and must rest some time among the Gouaraounos Indians. He returned to France on March 25, 1881, and was made an "Officer" of the
Légion d'honneur. in 1883 Crevaux was asked to undertake a fourth expedition, this time to explore the boundaries of the
Amazon and
Paraguay river basins. He arrived in
Argentina in December 1881 and was asked, by representatives of the
Bolivian government, to explore the upper course of the
Pilcomayo River. The expedition was transported to the
Bolivian border and granted the services of two marines for protection. The party reached the
Bolivian town of
Tarija by March 1882. Here the party picked up a
Toba guide girl named Yella Petrona, who agreed to guide the party through her people's territory. The expedition continued to the settlement of Caiza and found that the people of Caiza were at war with the
Tobas. Despite the conflict, Crevaux decided to press forward and on April 19, 1882, Crevaux's party left Caiza to travel up the
Pilcomayo. On April 27, 1882, Crevaux's party was invited to shore to eat with a group of
Tobas where the expedition was ambushed and Crevaux was clubbed to death. In 1886 another French explorer, Arthur Thouar, found Yella Petrona and Crevaux's killers. Petrona admitted to telling the
Tobas that Crevaux had come un-armed to take the
Toba's fishing rights away, this led to the attack. == References ==