Jules' father was a lawyer; his mother was descended from one of the great families of France. Their son was born on the island of Feydeau, near Nantes, in 1828. Napoleon had just died. Wellington was prime minister of England. The first railroad was only five years old. Steamers were crossing the Atlantic but they still carried sail to supplement their engines. From the windows of his home the boy Jules could see the masts of sailing ships, watch fisherman's nets drying, smell hides and spices. At the age of eleven he was playing on the wharves with a childhood sweetheart who said she would like a string of red coral beads like those the sailors brought back from their voyages. Jules solemnly promised she would have one, and that same afternoon was on board a boat about to sail for India, signed on as a cabin boy. Fortunately for his later admirers, a friend of the family saw him go on board and told the family. His father fetched him home, spanked him, and put him to bed.