Discovery of dragons

For more than five years I have been investigating with a friend of mine, a historian, on the origins of the discovery of the Komodo dragon, the ora.

In most books, newspapers and scientific magazines, even the latest ones, we find the same story:

"In 1911, a Dutch pilot crashed at sea, near the island of Komodo, in shallow waters. He survived, waded ashore and was saved by the villagers of Kampong Komodo -- a place where giant lizards attacked him. Back in Surabaya, East Java, he told people about his encounter with the dragons, but nobody believed him, ("Dragons do not exist, my poor man!"). He was even put into an asylum for the insane, until Dr. Ouwens, of the Garden of Buitenzorg (Bogor), heard rumors from pearl-fishermen in Flores about the existence of ora ora. He asked his friend, governor of Flores Lt. Van Speyk, in 1912 to prepare an expedition to Komodo. That's how the giant lizard was discovered and trapped. A specimen was sent to Jakarta, where it got the name Varanus Komodoensis Ouwens, and the whole world received the sensational news. The poor pilot was freed..."

To shorten the story, there was never a Dutch pilot in an asylum.

We wrote, phoned all over the world, asked authors where they got the story from, but without results. They all shamefully admitted they copied the story from each other. It's such a nice story which fits so perfectly with the mystique of the Komodo dragon.

I would really appreciate if any of the Post's readers could let me know if they have heard anything about the above story.

HENK KEGEL

"Ararat" Baudaric No 1128

06390 Contes

France