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64 Father Guy Tachard
(Plates 48, 49 & 50)
(See also items 55, 59, 70.) Translated from his ‘Second Voyage ...’, Paris 1689: it is also in Strangman, but with errors and un-indicated omissions. He returned from Siam in 1686 (item 59) to collect twelve Jesuit mathematicians, for an observatory to be formed there. Actually there were so many applicants that fourteen (including Le Blanc of items 66 and 71) went out with the Embassy under Simon de la Loubère (of item 63). A military force also went out, as requested by the King of Siam, 636 in all under General Desfarges. There were six ships, Le Gaillard (flagship of de l'Aulnay de Vaudricourt, in which Tachard travelled), L'Oiseau (commanded by Abraham Duquesne-Guiton of item 73), the flutes* La Loire, La Normande, Le Dromadaire, and the frigate* La Maligne which was to return from the Cape: all sailed from Brest on March 1, 1687. Equator April 17.
At one o'clock in the afternoon of the same day [June 11], as the mist cleared away and the sky became clear, we suddenly saw, at a distance of not more than forty leagues, the Mountain of the Table and all the other mountains that go to form the famous Cape of Good Hope. Those who first saw it pointed it out to the others, and the joy of everyone was indescribable. Greedily each sought to breathe in the land air, and it seemed as though it already refreshed us. We had aboard more than three hundred so sick that they could not move, and the rest were so enfeebled, especially in the Flutes, that they could scarcely get up on deck. Yet they tried to do so, and their longing to see land already caused them to forget the sufferings caused them by the sea.
There was at first some discussion as to whether we should enter the channel that night, to come to anchor. The Commander at first doubted whether to do this, since he feared that the Flutes, which were still some distance behind us, might not have the time to reach the anchorage before dark, since usually there is a lack of wind when this bay is approached between the Lion Hill and Robin Island, which is in addition a dangerous passage. It seemed to him that it was somewhat too risky to enter near dusk. However, he made up his mind to ignore these difficulties, since on the other hand he learned that if he missed the favourable opportunity of entering, he perhaps would not get it again so easily, because of the clouds and the mist which as a rule cover these lands at this season; and further because he had no doubt but that when the other vessels saw him enter the bay, they would set all sails to follow him. And since it seemed very probable that the wind would not drop soon, he made up his mind to steer for the harbour at once. It was well that he did so that day, for afterwards the weather became so misty for six days that it was almost impossible to see a ship at a musket*-shot's distance. The other vessels had all the time they needed to reach their positions before dark. And so, after a voyage of three months and eleven days - since we left on March 1 and arrived on June 11 [dr] - | |
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after much hardship and many dangers we found ourselves at last in a position to relax a little and seek to renew our strength before continuing the voyage to Batavia and Siam.
Since we had anchored by night Monsieur de Vaudricourt could not send anyone to the fort, not only because it is not allowed to land at night in foreign harbours, but also because no salutes whatever are fired after sunset. So we waited till the morning, when Captain de Saint-Clair ... was sent to the Governor to present the Commander's compliments, and at the same time to request permission to provision the ships and set the sick ashore.
While this officer was carrying out this commission, Monsieur de Joyeux, Captain of the Loire, came aboard the Gaillard. He had parted from us in the latitude of Lisbon ... and had arrived at the Cape three days before us [dr 9/6].... After he had given the Commander an account of all that had taken place in his ship during the voyage, he told us of the friendly reception given him by the Governor, who was that same Monsieur de Vanderstellen whom we had seen in our previous voyage. Thus no doubt remained but that we would again receive the same civilities as had been shown us on that occasion. Of this we were soon assured on the return of Monsieur de Saint-Clair, who reported that the Governor had expressed great pleasure at our coming, and that he would be delighted to see that we were furnished with all the provisions we required. With regard to our sick, however, he begged Monsieur de Vaudricourt to put himself in his position and consider whether he could allow ashore so large a number of foreigners, there being quite three hundred of them, so that he asked that sixty only might be sent at first, and then another sixty as soon as the first had recovered.
This procedure appeared to everyone as both courteous and reasonable. Nevertheless our necessity was such that we felt constrained to redouble our prayers to the Governor, and, while assuring him of the perfect understanding that existed between France and Holland, to beg him not to allow so large a proportion of our sick to suffer on board, where they could not remain longer without risk of death.
When I left the Cape the last time to return to France, I told Monsieur de Vandestellen that I should be calling again the following year on my way to the Indies, and would have with me a number of companions, regarding whom he had then made many kind offers. During the conversation that he had with Monsieur de Saint-Clair he recalled these, and the promise I had given him, and the Captain assured me that he had inquired particularly after me. I did not fail to go and see him that very day, taking with me one of our Fathers. His greeting was most friendly, and, having learnt that I had brought fourteen Jesuit mathematicians, all holding royal patents like the first six, he said that the pavilion where we had previously lodged could not conveniently accommodate so many persons, so that he would place at our disposal a large country-house [Constantia] he owned, about a league from the Cape, with a very pleasant garden, where we should find everything we needed for the recovery of our health, and a place suitable for making astronomical observations. We thanked him very gratefully for his kindness, but explained that the shortness of our stay at the Cape and the necessity we
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were under of being continuously in touch with each other, and above all with our sick, made it impossible for us to lodge so far away; and that, since he had so obligingly offered us the observatory which he had given us in our former voyage, we would occupy it again. As we found that nothing had been changed, I have nothing to add to the description I have already given of it [but in item 59 it ‘had been demolished’].
De Vaudricourt and Desfarges had charged me most particularly to do all I could to persuade the Governor to allow a larger number of the sick to go ashore. So earnestly did I implore him, saying that we Jesuits would be his hostages should he fear some mischief, that he yielded to my entreaties, and asked me to go and tell these gentlemen that tomorrow they could send all the sick ashore, and he even offered his Surgeons to assist ours: he told me only to beg our officers not to permit any of the men to abuse the privilege. Having returned aboard I told Monsieur de Vaudricourt of the promise given me by the Governor, and at the same time I let the Jesuits in the other ships know of the favour he had done us, and added that I should be very glad if they would all come ashore the next day, to go with me to thank him.
It was an exceptional joy for all fifteen of us thus to find ourselves together and in good health after so rough a passage, for although some of us were indisposed they soon recovered, with the good food and the land air. The Commander received us with fresh marks of kindness and offered to do everything he could for us. We had no need to make use of his offers, since Monsieur de la Loubère had sent me word, just as we were disembarking, that throughout the duration of our stay he would in no wise permit us to have other table than his own. He would not even allow the sick to be quartered anywhere but in his house, and in spite of all my pleading insisted on giving his own room to the Father who was the most indisposed....
Monsieur Thevenot, before our first voyage, had suggested that we seek enlightenment concerning a very curious matter, which he had nevertheless been assured was true: this is that indubitable evidence could be found on the Table Mountain that the sea had formerly covered it. Fathers Le Blanc [of items 66, 71] and de Bèze were inquisitive enough to investigate the truth of this statement. It will be of interest to learn the result, from a letter written to one of his friends by the latter, which I quote verbatim [it seems to contradict the statements above regarding de la Loubère's ‘house’, and his ‘table’]:
‘Here we are at last at the Cape, and our sick are already ashore. You will not find a more courteous man than the Governor of the fortress: all our officers are charmed with him. Our obligations are even greater than theirs, and we can never forget the kindness he shows us. I may tell you that he has never refused us a favour, and I myself asked one of him, which he granted with a politeness which I cannot sufficiently praise. Father Tachard went to call on him, and I was a witness of his friendliness. We dined that day with him, and from there we went to lodge in a pavilion which is in the middle of the famous Garden*. I shall say nothing, or at least very little, about this vast country, as you have the long account of it which our Fathers have published.
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All I shall add is that I found it fairer, and the Hottentots more hideous, than had been told me; and yet there was not one of us who did not long for the privilege of converting these poor people, who from their birth are left in ignorance of the true God. They live much more like beasts than human beings, and I think that it would be difficult to convert them completely, but for the Grace of God by which one overcomes all obstacles. We do not pass our time uselessly here. As far as I am concerned, I go for walks in search of rare plants, or to make notes on others. I have found a great many, and some beautiful ones. Although it is Winter here, the land is as decked with flowers as are our fairest meadows in the month of May. The weather does not distress us in the least, and we do not feel it cold at all.
A few days ago I was on a famous mountain, a description of which you have seen in the “Voyage de Siam” [item 55]. This is Table Mountain, and it is about a league from the Cape [Town], although its height makes this seem to lie at the foot of it. I had been asked in France to examine its flora, and Monsieur Thevenot, in the introductions he gave us for the Cape, noted that he had been told that the sea had at one time covered the top of the mountain and that we would find it full of sea-shells - you can imagine for yourself what likelihood there is that one of Africa's highest mountains should have been submerged beneath the sea since the Flood. As it was desirable that some one made the ascent, and since also it was necessary to do so if a plan of the country which this mountain dominates in all directions were to be prepared, I offered to go, although another had already attempted the venture and had failed. Father Le Blanc had the courage to accompany me, with two of our servants.
At the foot of the mountain we observed a great quantity of water, falling in various places like a cascade down the high and precipitous rocks. Were all this water united it would make a considerable river, but the greater part of it disappears underground at the foot of the mountain. The rest unites in two big streams, which drive the mills near the Dutch dwellings. This water has no other origin but the clouds which, meeting in their path the summit of this high and sun-heated mountain, dissolve into rain which falls on all sides. Some most interesting observations might be made on this, and I will send something at the first opportunity. As we drew near the summit we heard the monkeys that live there making a great noise, by sending pretty large stones rolling down among the rocks.
Our guide, who had never before climbed to the top, was greatly surprised, and told me that on the mountain there were animals bigger than lions, which devoured men. I perceived at once that it was fright which made him speak thus, and that he was weary of the way, like the others, who were thinking of turning back. I urged him on, and we continued our climb although very tired. Soon we saw numbers of monkeys along the mountain's crest, but they disappeared before we reached it. We found only their footprints.
The top of the mountain is a large esplanade, about a league in circumference. Almost all of it is rock, very level except where it dips towards the centre, where there is a
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[48] From item 64, probably drawn by Claudius. The Kirstenbosch identifications from left to right are: unidentifiable, Gladiolus sp., Pancratium sp., Synnotea or Laperousia sp., Cotyledon sp.
fine spring of water, which comes, I believe, from the highest parts of the esplanade, where we found much water. We saw also quantities of odoriferous plants growing between the rocks. I am having drawings made of them to send to France: a few are being sent in advance to our Academicians; but what I found of special beauty were the views we had from the summit, which I am having drawn. On one side you see the Bay of the Cape and the entire roadstead; on another the seas towards the South; on the third the False Cape, and a large island which lies in between [ sic]; on the fourth the African continent where the Dutch have several settlements. We shall make a plan of all this. I had some earth dug up for the satisfaction of Monsieur Thevenot: it is very black, and full of sand and small white pebbles. Such, my dear Father, is a brief account of our journey.
I am sorry to have to end my letter in an unhappy manner. We had been trying to improve the health of some of our Fathers, who were far from well when they landed .... But Father Duchatz, who was in good health when he disembarked, has been in bed for the past four days with a raging fever, and we shall be obliged to leave him here. Father Thionville has offered, in a most zealous and charitable manner, to remain with him, and we are leaving them a servant to attend to them. The Governor has promised to take all possiblé care of them, but that is no consolation for the sorrow we feel in parting from them. They will follow to Batavia in the first ships available. Farewell, my dear Father: pray to God to grant me grace to be worthy of the great work to which He has called me.’
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[49] From item 64, probably drawn by Claudius. The Kirstenbosch identifications are: Pelargonium sp., Brunsvigia sp., Wurbea or Dipidex sp., Nemesia sp., Aloe melanocantha, Cucurbitacea.
On my return to France I met those interested in the affairs of our Missions, who were under the impression that Father du Chatz, mentioned in this letter, had died. Had that been so, great indeed would have been our loss, from which God willed to save us.
The day before we left I went to visit our dear invalid in the house of a worthy citizen of the Cape, who had promised to take special care of him. It was only with extreme reluctance and grief that I had decided to leave him there, although I took every possible precaution to ensure his having all the help he might need, and which was available in the country. My grief was increased on seeing him on that day in a condition so serious that the Governor's Surgeons, whom I found in his room, told me frankly that they despaired of saving his life. Delirium, brought on by a malignant fever, had necessitated their giving him a copious bleeding. The loss of blood had weakened him extremely, without at all diminishing the ardour of the fever or the violence of the delirium. They said, that if he survived the night it would be only to die on the following day.
So distressing a report led me to consider whether, in these circumstances, it would not be better to take him onward in our ships. Our surgeons were more skilful, our remedies were better, and the invalid would find on board many friends anxious to attend to him. This would be preferable to letting him die in a land where there were no services of the Catholic religion, where, consequently, he would be deprived after his death of all those holy rites which animate the pious to pray for the repose of the soul. Father de Bèze,
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[50] From item 64, probably drawn by Claudius. The Kirstenbosch identifications are: Aloe variegata, Albuca sp., Asclepias pubescens or A. fruticosa, ‘vygie’ or ‘daisy’?, Diospyros sp.
who was with me at the time and whom I consulted about the matter, agreed with me, and we felt that we ought to do for the Father what we ourselves, were we in such a plight, would wish others to do for us. I therefore went to the Governor and begged him to let me have a shallop* to take us to our ships, and some men to carry the invalid. He granted both my requests most graciously and with his usual courtesy. At once therefore we transported the Father onto the Loire, where the Sieur de la Coste, Surgeon-Major of the ship, took such good care of him and gave him such efficient remedies that he recovered his health in a very short time....
Father du Chatz owed his illness to the fact that he spent one part of the night making observations, and the other part resting a little, during the cold and rainy season, on the staircase of a house which was exposed on all sides to a malignant atmosphere.
It was a special providence of God that the other Fathers were able to withstand all the fatigues, and especially Father Richaud, whose health is very delicate and who is already well-advanced in years. For, after a voyage of three thousand leagues, we spent all the time of our stay at the Cape working by day at various self-allotted tasks, and most of the night in making astronomical observations. It is true that the weather was so cloudy and unfavourable that it was only with the greatest difficulty that we observed two emersions of Jupiter's first satellite.
[Observations made on June 19 and 21.]
During an interview that Father de Bèze and I had with Monsieur de vandestellen,
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he spoke to us of some curious plants which he had found on his travels, and shewed us a collection of them. He was good enough to allow us to have drawings made of the more uncommon ones, which I give here [Plates 48-50: Claudius*]. He also promised to present them all to me for the King's library, on my way back, with a short account of the regions where they grow and of the chief properties ascribed to them.
When leaving Brest I received a letter from a certain very learned person, desiring me to learn at the Cape of Good Hope, whether the rises and falls of the tide occurred there at the same times as in France, and whether they were equally regular. I enquired from the Governor and from two Dutch pilots, who replied very definitely that they occurred in the roadstead of the Cape as regularly as in European ports similarly situated. I say ‘in the roadstead of the Cape’, because on the side where the Cape looks southward the tides are not so regular, the winds causing them to vary greatly: so much so, that when the North wind blows there is hardly any ebb to be seen, and when there is a South wind the sea rises to a prodigious height and does not ebb at all....
[News from Siam and of a Persian Embassy there.]
At the same time as we thus diligently enquired for news from Siam, we were thinking also of sailing, to go and learn them for ourselves. Monsieur de Vanderstellen had told us that some time previously he had received an order from the [Governor-]General at Batavia, that he should this year send onwards the Dutch ships from the Indies earlier than was usual, because it had been noted that for some years the seasons were much in advance of the normal, and that the winds which previously blew at certain fixed times, now began to be felt much sooner.
On learning this Monsieur de Vaudricourt hastened the re-embarkation of the sick, and when it was put forward to him that most of the soldiers and sailors who embarked in their present state would be too feeble to resist the sea, he replied, that if we waited longer we should lose the season and [delay] the voyage and thus many more would be lost. Nevertheless he called a Council*, to which were called the Ambassadors and Monsieur des Farges. All those present at this Council not only resolved for departing, but themselves signed the resolution.
[Stores from La Maligne loaded into the other ships, she to go home with news of our safe arrival, and with letters from the Siamese envoys, of which one is given in full. Two of the Fathers transferred from ‘the bad air’ of the Flutes* to L'Oiseau on the invitation of ‘Monsieur Duquesne’ (of item 73).]
During the night before the day fixed for the embarkation of the troops, an incident occurred [dr] which distressed us, and which alarmed the Governor and all his garrison. He had already been informed of our intention to re-embark the soldiers on the morrow in their respective ships, to leave with the first fair wind. He had been thanked for the many favours he had shown us; and since he had good grounds for expecting from us both good faith and gratitude, he was surprised to see, towards 11 o'clock at night, a fire, from an unknown cause, break out in a house right in the centre of the town.... I cannot say what the Governor's first thoughts were when he saw this, but he acted in a
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sensible manner, did not lose his head, took his precautions and lined the walls of the fort with soldiers, sending out some twenty well armed, either to extinguish the fire, if this were accidental; or to quell a hostile demonstration; and in any case to ascertain what had caused the fire. He was soon informed: a number of Frenchmen, staying in various parts of the town, had been the first to run to the fire, and had put it out just as it was threatening all the other houses of the town*, the roofs of which are merely of rush or straw. Thus did we acknowledge before our departure, in some slight measure at least, the kind reception which the Governor had given us during the twelve days of our stay - for we dropped anchor on the 11th of June, and weighed on the 25th. It is true that, after setting sail, a calm surprised us after we had gone a league, so that we were obliged to return almost to the same spot whence we had sailed. There we were compelled to remain for another two days, and it was on the 27th that we put out to sea [dr]....
Many deaths in the Flutes*, including two Jesuits. Bantam August 24, finding that Duquesne had left a few days before. Batavia September 1 to 7. Siam September 27. |
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