The shipwreck of the corsair Hirondelle on Bird Island.

An untold story by Julien Durup

On the early morning of the 4 September 1809, the French corsair Hirondelle was derelict on a reef at Bird Island (Ile aux Vaches Marines).

Image used is for illustrative Purposes only . It is not that of The Hirondelle

Hirondelle was under the command of Captain Louis Auguste Branzon. Corsair Branzon was born in 1765 in 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.

Branzon Given the command of the Corsair Hirondelle

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 up 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.

Hirondelle aiming for disaster

On the night of 3 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 thunderstorms. 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 Branzon ordered not to change course until 4 a.m.

Map showing Bird Island in relation to some other Main Islands of Seychelles

Hirondelle Wrecked

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 crew members. With constants pounding waves she managed to stay on the reef. During daybreak they saw that they were close to Bird Island. Many sailors swam to shore; some were badly wounded by the corals. Those onboard 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 by 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.

Map of Bird Island showing the Hirondelle Pass

The crew went in Survival mode

On the next day, they dug a well and found potable water. During low tide, they found the half broken longboat and corpses of their comrades swept away during the wreck. They also managed, with the help of the raft, in getting 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.

Some crew headed for the island of Mahé

Straightaway, they started repairing their longboat; which took them about a month to do so. With the abundances of food and water there was no pressure on them to finish earlier. When the renovation was completed, Branzon selected Lieutenant Joseph Roussel, one of his officers, to sail the long boat to Mahe to seek help. Branzon, decided to stay behind. Roussel, then, asked for volunteers and four strong men decided to join him. 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 charge of the expedition to Mahé. They left Bird Island in 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 longboat 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 reach North Island. There, they rested overnight and the next day they set sail for Mahé.

Crew spotted by Quéau de Quincy

The next day, 23 September, they were seen at dawn by Jean-Baptiste Quéau de 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.

Part of the crew rescued

On the 24 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 26 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 safeguard 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 6 October 1809, de Quincy set up and presided over a tribunal, instead of an Admiralty Committee to hear the case of the shipwrecked 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.

Salvage Operation organised

After signing the agreement Captain Julien Hodoul set sail on the Favorite to 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. 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 northeastern deep side of the Island. They can be usually seen from the air.

Sources

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