Brau de Saint-Pol Lias à Sumatra (1876-1881). Utopies coloniales et figures de l’explorateur

In the course of the years 1870-80, colonial enterprises developed in several places around the Straits : estates on the East Coast of Sumatra, tin on the Malay peninsula, projects to cut through the isthmus of Kra. Xavier Brau de Saint-Pol Lias (1840-1914) found himself at the intersection of these enterprises which, in Sumatra, failed. His own attempt, called Colons- Explorateurs, established south of Deli, went bad. He tried to take advantage of the Dutch pacification of Aceh to renew the estates there but he did not imagine that the war would be endless. Supported in France by the movement which brought together geography and colonization, he represents a modernized version of the explorer who comes into contact with populations, methodically collects and then, on the wave of the adventure novel, markets his experience to assure its deserved celebrity through his talks, his articles and his books.Labrousse Pierre. Brau de Saint-Pol Lias à Sumatra (1876-1881). Utopies coloniales et figures de l’explorateur. In: Archipel, volume 77, 2009. pp. 83-116