This is an IHeart podcast.

Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosity's, A production of IHeart Radio and grim and mild.

Our world is full of the unexplainable.

And if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.

Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosity's.

Many young people long for adventure.

They're stuck in school or menial jobs, and they want a life where they're constantly on the move and experiencing new things.

Young adult novels and role-playing video games cater to this desire,

featuring protagonists who come from humble beginnings and are swept up on epic journeys after a chance encounter.

In 1835, one young English aristocrat received a real-life call to adventure.

He set out on a journey that would change his life and the world.

James had never been good at school. After dropping out, he'd joined the East India Trading Company Army, but soon

took a bullet to the chest while in battle and was sent home to heal. He was bored and listless.

The army had shown him some fascinating parts of the world, but he hadn't been free to explore it.

He wanted to get back out there on his own.

When his father passed away in 1835, he received a massive inheritance.

This was his chance to do something with his life.

And so he did what any young man would do, and he bought a 142-ton schooner called The Royalist.

The large ship had six cannons and could accommodate dozens of crew members.

James hired some men, purchased a ton of supplies, and then sailed toward Asia to find adventure.

In 1841, he took on a request from the British governor of Singapore,

who wanted James to travel to Brunei to thank the Sultan there for the rescue of some

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