Russian sailors looked with apprehension at the pies with savages, who literally rushed through the piles to their ship. One of them stood out, decorated with flowers and feathers, and the local ruler was clearly trying to get to the sailors. Together with his retinue, he boarded the ship, and Kruzenshtern came out to meet him and told him in English that it had suffered in a storm, needed repairs, besides, he needed to wait here for another ship that should come here in the coming days.
This circumstance calmed Kruzenshtern, in any case, there was no need to be afraid of an attack by savages and calmly repair the ship, waiting for the approach of Lisyansky. After the Neva sloop approached, both ships remained in the hospitable bay for another month.
On the day when both ships were about to sail from the island, Cabrili I was on board the Nadezhda, who was saying goodbye to the Russian sailors. Suddenly, a strong wind rose, which threatened to tear the ships from their anchors and smash them on the rocks, the sailors had to urgently weigh anchor and go out to sea.
A strong tailwind helped the hat to reach Kamchatka in the shortest possible time, from here Joseph Cabrioli immediately headed to St. Petersburg. He wanted to get an audience with Emperor Alexander I, the Frenchman hoped that he would be helped to return at least to his homeland. The Russian emperor condescended to meet with King Cabrili I and even promised to help him, but asked him to wait for the end of the war with Napoleon.
Cabrili became quite a popular figure in St. Petersburg, many people wanted to see his bizarre tattoos and listen to stories about the life and customs of savages. Journalists also met with Joseph, one of them – Thaddeus Bulgarin – recorded his impressions of this man: “Kabrili was small, lean, swarthy, with an irregular outline of a face disfigured by tattooed patterns of dark blue color. His gaze expressed innate ferocity, and he had all the cat’s tricks. When he smiled, it seemed like he wanted to bite a person.
So that Joseph Cabrili did not starve to death, he was assigned to work at the skipper’s school, where he taught various wisdom to future sailors. It was only in 1817 that he managed to get to France, more than 20 years have passed since he left his homeland. No one was waiting for Joseph here: his parents were dead, the officials had no time for him. His attempt to obtain an audience with Louis XVIII was unsuccessful. Cabrili did not stop thinking about his island, his wife and children, he wanted to return to a place where he felt truly happy and in demand.
He decided to earn money to return to Nukagiva.
Cabrili got a job in a traveling circus, where he showed his tattoos to the public during performances, shaking a spear, in a feather headdress and a loincloth, he imitated the habits and customs of cannibal savages. Joseph was paid little, he wandered with the circus for seven years, but he never accumulated the necessary amount. One day, performing almost naked in a strong draft, he caught a cold and fell down. Most likely, he had pneumonia, an almost fatal disease at that time. The miracle did not happen, the former king, deprived of proper care, died in March 1824, without realizing his dream of returning to his beloved island.
