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Jean-François-Marie de Surville
Born18 January 1717
Port-Louis, Brittany, France
Died8 April 1770(1770-04-08) (aged 53)
Chilca, Peru
Cause of deathDrowning
NationalityFrench
Known forExploration of the Pacific

Jean-François-Marie de Surville (18 January 1717 – 8 April 1770) was a French merchant captain with the French East India Company who commanded a voyage of exploration to the South Pacific.

Born in Brittany, France, Surville joined the French East India Company when he was 10 years old, in 1727. He sailed on voyages in Indian and Chinese waters and later joined the French Navy in 1740. He fought in the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War, twice becoming a prisoner of war. After his military career ended, he rejoined the French East India Company. In 1769, he commanded an expedition into the Pacific and explored the seas around the Solomon Islands and New Zealand. While seeking help for the crew of his ship, Saint Jean-Baptiste, he drowned off the coast of Peru on 8 April 1770.

Early life

Born on 18 January 1717, Jean-François-Marie de Surville was the son of Jean de Surville, a government official at Port-Louis, Brittany, and his wife, Françoise Mariteau de Roscadec, the daughter of a ship owner. At the age of ten, he left home and joined the French East India Company, a commercial enterprise established several years previously to trade in the East Indies. With the company, he sailed on trading voyages around India and China.[1]

Following the outbreak of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1740, Surville joined the French Navy, and fought in that conflict.[1] As an ensign, he sailed aboard Hercule. He was made a prisoner of war in 1745, when the ship was captured by the Royal Navy off Sumatra.[2] After his release in 1746, he served aboard Duc de Chartres, which shipped goods from France to West Africa, from where it collected slaves for transportation to the Caribbean, and then molasses from the Caribbean to France, a process known as triangular trade. In 1747, he was given command of Bagatelle and a letter of marque, which entitled him to sail as a privateer for France. While on one of his sorties on Bagatelle, he was again captured by the Royal Navy and taken to England as a prisoner of war.[2]

Released in 1748, Surville returned to the French East India Company as a first lieutenant aboard Duc de Béthune, a 40-gun merchantman that traversed the trading route to China. Returning to France in 1750,[2] he married Marie Jouaneaulx at Nantes. The couple had two sons, who later joined the French Army.[1]

By 1753, Surville was commander of Renommée and had made the acquaintance of Marion Dufresne, who would later become known for his voyages to the Pacific.[3] During the Seven Years' War, which began in August 1756, he sailed with the Comte d'Aché's naval fleet in the Indian Ocean as commander of Duc de Orleans.[2] He was looked upon favourably by his superiors for his seamanship and leadership,[4] and was made an "officer of the blue", a title used for non-aristocratic officers.[5]

Wounded in the Battle of Pondicherry in 1759, Surville was awarded the Cross of Saint Louis for his conduct in the fighting. He ended the Seven Years' War as commander of La Fortuné, a 64-gun warship. While transporting soldiers back to France, he encountered bad weather off the coast of South Africa.[5] Developing bad leaks, the ship was wrecked near Cape Town. He was able to get all the crew and passengers safely to shore and on to Cape Town. This delayed Surville's return to France until early 1764.[6]

French India

Surville returned to service with the French East India Company in 1765 and later that year commanded Duc de Praslin on its voyage transporting the new governor of Pondicherry, Jean Law de Lauriston, to India to take up his post. Afterwards, together with Lauriston and Jean-Baptiste Chevalier, the governor of Chandernagore, which, like Pondicherry, was a French settlement on the east coast of India, he set up a venture to pursue trading in the Indian Ocean. Returning to France in 1766, Surville gained the permission of the French East India Company for his commercial plans. Needing a ship for his venture, he supervised the construction of Saint Jean-Baptiste at Port-Louis. A large merchantman armed with 36 guns, he sailed her to India in June 1767. Over the next several months, Surville carried out a series of trading voyages along the Indian coast.[4] During this time, he also served as deputy governor of Pondicherry.[7]

A view of Pondicherry in the late 18th century

By late 1768, the French East India Company was undergoing severe financial difficulties, and its monopoly on trade in the East Indies was threatened with revocation. Surville and his business associates recognised that this would represent new opportunities for their syndicate[8] and were planning a commercial expedition to the Philippines.[4] At about this time, they became aware of rumours of a recent British discovery of land in the South Pacific, believed to be the fabulously wealthy island of Davis Land. In actual fact, these rumours were based on HMS Dolphin's reports of Tahiti.[9]

Davis Land represented a potentially important trading possibility for Surville's syndicate. However, it was also necessary to establish a French foothold in the South Pacific before the British, lest they be locked out of the region. Consequently, it was decided that Surville would mount an expedition to the South Pacific.[10] The plan was for Surville to sail Saint Jean-Baptiste to Malacca, and then onto the South China Sea and the Philippines. He was then to traverse the north and south latitudes of the Pacific, searching for Davis Land. The latter objective was to be kept secret, even from the officers of the expedition. On his return, Surville was to stop at Manila and Batavia.[11] To avoid British suspicion as to the purpose of the expedition, the official destinations of the Saint Jean-Baptiste were Manila and Canton.[12]

After over two months of preparation, Surville departed from Chandernagore aboard Saint Jean-Baptiste on 3 March 1769, carrying a mixture of trading goods as cargo.[13] These goods, if not able to sold to the Jewish merchants believed to live on Davis Land, were to be sold at Manila on the expedition's return voyage to help with the expedition's profitability.[11] Also on board were several charts and narratives of voyages to the Pacific, including an account of Abel Tasman's journey to New Zealand.[11] After visits to French settlements along the Indian coast to pick up provisions,[14] Surville made his last stop at Pondicherry,[15] where he added some grenadiers to the expedition's complement.[16] The expedition, now numbering 172 men,[17] departed on their venture on 22 June 1769.[15]

Exploring the Pacific

Surville sailed first to the Nicobar Islands to verify the presence of a Danish colony there and then, without stopping, proceeded to Malacca, arriving on 29 June 1769.[18] An initially warm welcome from the Dutch governor soon cooled when another ship, an English vessel, arrived with allegations that the French were headed to the East Indies, where the Dutch had a monopoly. Surville promptly left, [19] sailing on to Terengganu on the Malay Peninsula and then to the islands of the Bashi Channel, between Taiwan and the Philippines, where several of his crew deserted. In retaliation, Surville captured some of the Bashi islanders.[20]

To the surprise of the majority of the expedition, Surville then sailed to the southeast, away from the ship's official destination of Canton, in accordance with his secret instructions to locate Davis Land.[21] Proceeding to the Solomon Islands, which had not been sighted by Europeans since initially being discovered in 1568,[22] the expedition began to suffer from scurvy. They reached the coast of Santa Isabel, in the Solomons, on 7 October 1769.[23] At their first anchorage, which Surville named "Port Praslin",[20] they received a hostile reception.[23] The expedition then tried for another anchorage, but were unable to conduct any trade or even resupply their ship without being attacked by hostile islanders.[24]

At this time, Saint Jean-Baptiste was short of fresh food and many of Surville's crew had died from scurvy. Morale was low, not helped by the poor condition of the ship, which was leaking. Surville was forced to find a safe anchorage, but he was unwilling to risk stopping at the Solomon Islands again. Instead, in early December, after consulting Tasman's charts, he headed for New Zealand. To avoid missing landfall due to errors in longitude, he first sailed southwest, before turning eastwards at the latitude of northern New Zealand.[25] Before having sailed to the east, it is likely that he came close to reaching and discovering the coast of what is now New South Wales.[26]

New Zealand

On 12 December 1769 at 11:15am, Saint Jean-Baptiste sighted the coastline of New Zealand and sailed to just off Hokianga, on the west coast of the northern part of the North Island. Finding the shore inhospitable, Surville sailed northwards. On 16 December, the ship rounded the North Cape, passing James Cook's Endeavour, which coincidentally sailed through the same area at the same time. Neither ship was able to sight the other because of poor visibility. Surville and Cook were the first Europeans to navigate New Zealand waters since Abel Tasman's voyage 127 years earlier.[25]

Sailing down the east coast, Surville reached what he called "Lauriston Bay" on 17 December 1769. However, Cook had already sailed past the bay less than two weeks earlier, dubbing it "Doubtless Bay".[25] Māori in canoes came out to Saint Jean-Baptiste and engaged in some trading for fresh fish; this allayed some fears of the crew, aware that Tasman had experienced a hostile welcome on his arrival in New Zealand. Surville then took his ship deeper into the bay, anchoring late in the day off Tokerau Beach near Whatuwhiwhi.[27]

Surville, along with some sailors and soldiers, went ashore on the next day. The party was greeted by a Māori chief, who showed them to a source of water, and gave them cresses and celery.[28] Over the next several days, the fresh food gathered or traded from the Māori helped the majority of the sick among the expedition to recover from their scurvy.[29] Father Paul-Antoine Léonard de Villefeix, the chaplain on Saint Jean-Baptiste, conducted the first Christian service in New Zealand when he celebrated mass on Christmas Day 1769.[1]

In their interactions with the locals, the French made some cultural blunders that would have caused offence to the local population; Surville touched the head of a chief, normally considered tapu, when presenting a gift of a white feather. In addition, the bodies of those that died from scurvy had been thrown overboard into the bay. This was normal practice for the French, but disrespectful to the Māori, who fished the area. There may also been concern among the local Māori about the amount of food resources that the French were taking, and as a consequence, trading for fish and celery soon ceased. This led to a deterioration of relations between the French and Māori.[30] Surville, having initially taken care to be congenial as possible towards the Māori, was becoming increasingly frustrated.[31]

A commemorative plaque marking the anchorage of Saint Jean-Baptiste at Doubtless Bay, in New Zealand. It reads: "Jean François Marie de Surville anchored his ship Saint Jean Baptiste in Doubtless Bay 17–31 December 1769 to refresh his men. He visited a pā on this headland, 30 December."

On 27 December, a storm stranded a party of men on shore at Whatuwhiwhi, where they were treated hospitably by the local Māori. In the same storm, the ship dragged her anchors, which had to be cut on Surville's orders. He and part of the crew spent several hours trying to bring the Saint Jean-Baptiste to a more sheltered anchorage. The ship's yawl, which was in tow, struck rocks and had to be cut free.[32] After the storm passed, the stranded party returned to the ship, which had suffered a broken tiller.[33] Surville, distressed by the loss of the anchors and the yawl, which jeopardised plans for further exploration of the area,[32] went ashore with a party of two officers and some sailors to fish on 30 December. The party was invited to a village by a local chief and shared a meal before returning to the ship.[34]

On the following day, 31 December, an officer spotted the yawl ashore on Tokerau Beach surrounded by Māori, and an armed party set off from Saint Jean-Baptiste to retrieve it.[33] Surville considered the yawl to have been stolen; however, by tradition, any flotsam washed ashore belonged to the chief of the area. Reaching the beach, the French party found a group of Māori carrying spears, but there was no sign of the yawl. Their chief, Ranginui,[Note 1] approached Surville carrying a twig of green leaves, which is a Māori sign of peace. His patience exhausted, Surville arrested Ranginui for the theft of his yawl. His party burned about 30 huts, destroyed a canoe filled with nets, and confiscated another. They brought Ranginui back to their ship, where the crew members who had been stranded during the storm identified him as the chief who had been hospitable to them. Surville, however, was determined to keep his captive. Saint Jean-Baptiste departed eastwards on the same day with Ranginui on board.[34][36]

Voyage to South America

Surville, after consulting with his officers and considering the poor condition of his ship and crew, rejecting sailing north to the Philippines or the Dutch East Indies, and instead decided to sail for South America.[37] This route took advantage of favourable winds, and offered the lucrative prospect of discovering previously unknown lands as they moved eastwards.[37] Surville privately remained hopeful of locating Davis Land.[38] However, the Spanish considered their ports along the Pacific coast of South America off limits to other nations and there was a risk the French would be imprisoned on arrival. It was hoped that the existing alliance between France and Spain and an appeal to humanity would avoid this situation from arising.[39] The ship continued east to Peru across the Pacific. On 24 March 1770, as the ship approached the Juan Fernández Islands, Ranginui died of scurvy.[40] Initially distressed at being kidnapped, he had been well treated and regularly dined with Surville.[41]

The expedition continued to suffer further loss of crew through scurvy, the first death since departing New Zealand occurring on 19 February 1770.[38] Early the following month, with water supplies low, Surville conceded defeat in his quest for Davis Land and set course for Peru.[42] They reached the settlement of Chilca, on the Peruvian coast, on 7 April 1770. The next day, Surville and three crew members set off in a small boat to seek help from the Spanish viceroy at Chilca. In poor conditions, the boat capsized and Surville and two others were drowned. His body was found by locals and was buried at Chilca.[43]

The Spanish authorities impounded Saint Jean-Baptiste and imprisoned her surviving crew for two years before allowing them to return to France.[44] On 20 August 1770, when the ship arrived at Port-Louis, only 69 of the original complement of 173 men had completed Surville's expedition; 79 had died through sickness or attacks by hostile islanders, and another 28 had deserted.[45][Note 2]

Legacy

Despite being commercially unsuccessful, Surville's voyage allowed geographers of the time to confirm the size of the Solomon Islands and New Caledonia, and the likely non-existence of Davis Land. It provided further evidence that there was no Terra Australis to be found in the South Pacific and also contributed more knowledge of New Zealand and its inhabitants.[47]

A street in Surville's home town of Port-Louis is named for him.[48] He is remembered in New Zealand through the naming of the Surville Cliffs, the northernmost point of mainland New Zealand. Cap Surville was the original name for what is now known as North Cape.[49] A plaque commemorating Surville's visit to the area 200 years earlier was laid at at Whatuwhiwhi in 1969.[50] Two of the anchors of Saint Jean-Baptiste that were lost at Doubtless Bay were discovered in 1974 and are displayed at the Far North Regional Museum at Kaitaia and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington respectively.[51]

Notes

  1. ^ In later accounts of the expedition, the French ascribed the chief the name "Naguinoui" or "Naquinovi".[35]
  2. ^ Two of these deserters were the chaplain, Villefeix, and Surville's nephew.[46]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d Dunmore 1990, pp. 411–412.
  2. ^ a b c d Lee 2018, p. 36.
  3. ^ Duyker 1994, p. 43.
  4. ^ a b c Salmond 2018, p. 311.
  5. ^ a b Lee 2018, p. 37.
  6. ^ Lee 2018, p. 38.
  7. ^ Dunmore 1969, pp. 20–21.
  8. ^ Dunmore 1969, p. 18.
  9. ^ Salmond 2018, pp. 311–312.
  10. ^ Dunmore 1969, pp. 16–17.
  11. ^ a b c Salmond 2018, p. 312.
  12. ^ Dunmore 1969, p. 27.
  13. ^ Dunmore 1969, pp. 25–26.
  14. ^ Dunmore 1969, pp. 31–32.
  15. ^ a b Dunmore 1969, pp. 33–34.
  16. ^ Dunmore 1969, p. 36.
  17. ^ Lee 2018, p. 44.
  18. ^ Dunmore 1969, pp. 36–37.
  19. ^ Dunmore 1969, p. 40.
  20. ^ a b Dunmore 1969, p. 63.
  21. ^ Lee 2018, p. 46.
  22. ^ Lee 2018, p. 47.
  23. ^ a b Salmond 2018, p. 316.
  24. ^ Dunmore 1969, pp. 72–73.
  25. ^ a b c Salmond 2018, p. 317.
  26. ^ Lee 2018, pp. 53–54.
  27. ^ Salmond 2018, pp. 321–322.
  28. ^ Salmond 2018, pp. 323–324.
  29. ^ Salmond 2018, pp. 329–331.
  30. ^ Salmond 2018, pp. 329–332.
  31. ^ Lee 2018, p. 74.
  32. ^ a b Lee 2018, pp. 90–92.
  33. ^ a b Salmond 2018, p. 338.
  34. ^ a b Lee 2018, pp. 95–97.
  35. ^ Salmond 2018, p. 340.
  36. ^ Salmond 2018, pp. 339–340.
  37. ^ a b Dunmore 1969, p. 105.
  38. ^ a b Dunmore 1969, p. 110.
  39. ^ Dunmore 1969, p. 106.
  40. ^ Salmond 2018, p. 343.
  41. ^ Dunmore 1969, p. 107.
  42. ^ Dunmore 1969, pp. 111–112.
  43. ^ Dunmore 1969, pp. 115–116.
  44. ^ Quanchi & Robson 2005, p. 251.
  45. ^ Dunmore 1969, p. 125.
  46. ^ Dunmore 1969, p. 95.
  47. ^ Quanchi & Robson 2005, p. 164.
  48. ^ Lee 2018, p. 434.
  49. ^ Reed 2002, p. 474.
  50. ^ Parkes 1976, p. 25.
  51. ^ Lee 2018, p. 433.

Bibliography

  • Dunmore, John (1969). The Fateful Voyage of the St. Jean-Baptiste: A True Account M. de Surville's Expedition to New Zealand and the Unknown South Seas 1769-70. Christchurch, New Zealand: Pegasus Press. OCLC 610392600. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Dunmore, John (1990). "Surville, Jean François Marie de". In Oliver, W. H.; Orange, Claudia (eds.). Dictionary of New Zealand Biography: 1769–1869. Vol. 1. Wellington, New Zealand: Allen & Unwin. pp. 411–412. ISBN 0-04-641052-X. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Duyker, Edward (1994). An Officer of the Blue: Marc-Joseph Marion Dufresne, 1724–1772. Carlton, Victoria, Australia: Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0-522-84565-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Lee, Michael (2018). Navigators & Naturalists: French Exploration of New Zealand and the South Seas (1769–1824). Auckland, New Zealand: David Bateman. ISBN 978-1-86953-965-8. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Parkes, W. F. (1976) [1965]. The Visitors Guide to the Far North: Mangonui County (3rd ed.). Kaitaia, New Zealand: Northland Tourist Publications. OCLC 973585408. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Quanchi, Max; Robson, John (2005). Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands. Historical Dictionaries of Discovery and Exploration. Vol. 2. Lanham, Maryland, United States: The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-5395-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Reed, A.W. (2002) [1975]. The Reed Dictionary of New Zealand Place Names. Auckland, New Zealand: Reed Books. ISBN 0-7900-0761-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Salmond, Anne (2018) [1991]. Two Worlds: First Meetings between Maori and Europeans 1642–1772. Auckland, New Zealand: Penguin Random House New Zealand. ISBN 978-0-14-377216-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
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