An untold story
The shipwreck of the corsair Hirondelle on Bird Island
byJulien Durup, a student of Seychelles history
On the early morning of the 4th September 1809 the French corsair Hirondelle was derelict on a reef at Bird Island (Ile aux Vaches Marines). She was under the command of Captain Louis Auguste Branzon. Corsair Branzon was born in 1765 at Bordeaux, France. He started his merchant navy profession at the age of 15 as a Midshipman on board a boat from Bordeaux, operating in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) during the American War. After the war he served on many merchant ships in the Antilles. At the start of the French Revolution he commanded the corvette Las Caszas on which also served Nicolas Surcouf the brother of the famous Robert Surcouf.
At the French sea port of Brest, Branzon commanded many corsairs and made many captures. On 22 February 1800 he was captured by the English Frigate the Uranie. Three years later he was freed with the fragile Peace of Amiens. Then he set sail for the Indian Ocean to look for fortunes, and was based in Mauritius. During his first five years he commanded no ship. Then at the end of 1808 he was given the command of the corsair Hirondelle armed by Louis Houx of Port Louis. He sailed to the Bay of Bengal where he captured two ships.
On his second trip he left Mauritius in May 1809 for five months, on the way back he ended shipwrecked on Bird Island. At 45 years in 1810, after the British conquest of Mauritius, Branzon left for France. He seemed to have abandoned his seafaring career.
On the night of 3rd September 1809, according to a document of an anonymous, intelligent passenger who knew stars navigation (he could have been Lieutenant Armand Margon Clos-Doré), the North West wind was very violent with thunder storms. The Hirondelle was plying very fast South-South East with minimum sails. Most of the tired crew were on deck next to their manoeuvres. The only sound was that of the crushing of powerful waves and the echoes of winds blowing through the ship’s riggings. Just after 9 p.m. he saw a group of birds passing downwind. According to him, birds rarely fly in the direction that the wind is blowing. He approached the officer in charge to change course but the officer said that there was nothing to worry about. They had passed the latitude of Denis Island at 8 pm and that Branzon has ordered not to change course until 4 a.m.
At 10 p m the Hirondelle went aground on a reef on Bird Island. After ten minutes, she was on her side. She lost her masts, long boat and many crews members. Despite constant pounding waves she managed to stay on the reef. During day break they saw that they were close to Bird Island. Many sailors swam to shore; some were badly wounded by the corals. Those on board built a raft to go on land; they managed to do so with difficulties. The first night ashore they lighted a huge fire to warm themselves and cook some molluscs and seabirds. They were surprised with the diversity of the birds. The island was full of shrubs and had a little dune. The latter has now disappeared after the exploitation of guano. Sea turtles were plenty and on the first night they had a few. However, they made no mention of the presence of dugong (vaches marines) which were previously common.
On the next day they dug a well and found potable water. During low tide, they found the half broken long boat and corpses of their comrades swept away during the wreck. They also managed with the help of the raft to secure from the wreck the carpenter’s tools, sailcloth and other important items ideal for their survival. Immediately they built a tent to prevent the brilliant sunshine and rain. On that day three badly wounded sailors died and were buried alongside their drowned friends.
Straightaway, they started repairing their long boat which took them about a month to do so. With the abundance of food and water there was no pressure on them to finish earlier. When the renovation was completed, Branzon decided to stay behind. He selected Lieutenant Joseph Roussel, one of his officers, and Roussel then asked for volunteers; four strongmen did. Then they had to request the anonymous passenger to join them as he was the only one who knew stars navigation. He did so and took of the charge of the expedition to Mahé.
They left Bird Island on the morning with a whole grilled turtle, a few roasted birds and two small barrels of water. At midday they spotted the hilltops of Mahé, and at 3 pm they encountered very calm weather. Their Latin sail was too big for the long boat and was of little use in the calm weather conditions. They tried to make it smaller and had to row all the way. At 10 p m they rested. After two days and one night they reached North Island. There, they rested overnight and the next day they set sail for Mahé. The next day, 23rd September, they were seen at dawn by Queau Quincy the French Commandant of the Seychelles. He set sail in his pirogue to help them. Quincy entertained the anonymous intelligent man at his domicile for four months before he boarded a slaver for Mauritius.
On the 24th Quincy sent Captain Denis Adrien Calais of Havre de Grace, France, on board the “goélette” La Mouche to fetch the survivors on Bird Island. Calais returned with 36 sailors. On the 26th another boat was dispatched to pick up the rest of the crew and their personal effects. She was the Favorite, the ship of the famous Corsair Jean-François Hodoul. The Favorite was sent under the command of Jean-Francois’ brother, Antoine Julien Hodoul, another domicile corsair. Julien arrived back with the rest of the crew of the Hirondelle. He left behind his first officer and eight men to safe guard the rest of the saved artifacts of the wreck. He cleverly did so for him to have the contract to salvage the rest of the wreck.
On the afternoon of 6th October 1809, Quincy set up and presided over a tribunal in lieu of an Admiralty Committee, to hear the case of the shipwrecked sailors in conformity with the maritime ordinance. He appointed on the board three local sea captains: Sausse, Janson and Petit. After hearing Branzon’s statement, the captains negotiated with Jean-François Hodoul and submitted an agreement to remove all the rest of the wreck. The agreement included insurance for the Favorite and the cost of the operation.
After signing the agreement Captain Julien Hodoul set sail on the Favorite for the salvage operation. He left alongside his crew with a long boat and 12 slaves. He managed to recuperate mostly everything from the Hirondelle. They brought ashore piece by piece the carcass of the ship to remove nails, copper etc... They did so by burning. That is why there are no remains of the Hirondelle on the reef. However, the Hirondelle has not been forgotten on Bird Island. The small channel next to where she was wrecked was named Passe Hirondelle. The well the survivors dug to get water is still in use and it is called Puits Hirondelle.
Apart from its well known birds sanctuary, Bird Island is an ideal place for geologists and divers to study how the Seychelles is slowly moving eastwards due to the quakes and volcano eruptions in the Great Rift Valley. In the Seychelles the most visible place to see this slow phenomenon is on Bird Island. Massive chunks of the island’s basement are being pushed away in the north eastern deep side of the Island. They can be usually seen from the air.
Ref:
Albert Auguste Fauvell: Unpublished Documents. 1909.
Auguste Toussaint: Dictionary of Mauritian Biography pp. 1161-1162.
Auguste Toussaint: Les frères Surcouf, pp. 58 and 218.
George Nora: Ex. Manager of Bird Island; Info on Puits Hirondelle etc…
Guy Savy: Owner of Bird Island : Personal communication
Jeffrey Durup, Coxswain: Info on Passe Hirondelle and the deep side of island.
Jugement d’Amirauté sur la perte du corsaire l’Hirondelle TB 18/11 Mauritius Archives
Julien Durup : The first landowners ; unpublished.
Naufrage aux Seychelles : Transcription by Cousin Loulou (Henri Maurel) of Villeneuve Loubet, France
Naufrage aux Seychelles. Anonymous. Copy provided by Mons. Jacques Merles, 29, Rue Poliveau, 75005 Paris