Necker Island (British Virgin Islands) would survive their castaway adventure for at least three weeks, but as McCullin later recounted, "because of our gathering weakness ... out of temper, and out of water, we hoisted the red flag and were taken off in the early hours of the fifteenth day". According to McCullin, there was nothing idyllic about the desert island: "The mosquitos and other insects were more venomous and persistent than any I had encountered in Vietnam or the Congo." Richard Branson's "Extreme Tech Challenge" has been hosted annually at Necker Island since 2015. Described as one of the largest technology competitions in the
Jacques Necker Before, the people had never considered governmental income and expenditure to be their concern, but the "Compte rendu" made them more proactive. (This birth of public opinion and interest played an important role in the French Revolution.) Maurepas became jealous and Vergennes called him a revolutionist. Necker contrived his own fall by declaring that he would resign unless given the full title and authority of a minister, with a seat on the Conseil du Roi. All the ministers threatened to abandon their post if this were done. When Necker was dismissed on 19 May 1781 people pilgrimaged to his estate;