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...around Australia: "Since his example has been copied by many others, some walking, some on motor cycles, on motor cars, and others on push bicycles." The latest adventurer was Jean Christoph de Lancourt de Brenil, known in the records as Jean de Lancourt. The editor then described de Lancourt's dubious activities in northern Australia.
Jean de Lancourt arrived in Australia from the Gilbert Islands in November 1923 and two months later accepted a wager of 3000 [pounds sterling] to walk around Australia, leaving Sydney on February 1, 1924, with a change of clothing and ten shillings, and returning before 10 a.m. on February 1, 1927. His route, wherever possible, was to be within ten miles of tidal waters. He was not permitted to accept rides, beg, borrow or steal. He may be accompanied by anyone whom he had not met before and accept shelter and payment for work done. Despite his professed wealth and family connections, he left in his wake a trail of debts and complaints and a strong suspicion that he was spying for the Japanese.
The true origins and fate of de Lancourt are obscure, but his life and achievements can be assembled from the outrageous stories he told about himself. Perhaps he imagined himself as Louis de Rougemont, the nineteenth-century adventurer who exaggerated his deeds in the wilds of Australia. Actually, de Rougemont was...
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