1849 Depot de la Marine Chart of Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles

Capital of the Seychelles.

This is a rare 1849 French Dépôt-général de la marine nautical chart of the island of Mahé in the Seychelles Islands. It was produced at a time when Britain and France were vying for influence in the Indian Ocean, part of a wider, cautious global imperial competition in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars.

A Closer Look

Coverage includes the northeast coast of the island of Mahé, along with nearby islands such as Sainte-Anne and Ile du Cerf. Special attention is given to approaches to the port city of Victoria at left, the largest city on the island and in the archipelago. Soundings (in meters) are noted throughout, as are bottoms, shoals, and anchorages. A table below and to the right of the title provides conversion between feet, meters, and brasses, while a compass with magnetic variations appears at right. The longitude and latitude of Victoria, along with other navigational data, are included at the bottom-left. Two profile views of the coastline near Victoria appear at top with information on how to best approach the harbor, while at top-right is a translation from the British chart on which the present one is based providing additional detailed instructions for avoiding sandbanks while approaching Victoria.

Voyage of the Berceau

This chart was prepared by ensigns aboard the French corvette Berceau in 1846 (this ship should not be confused with an earlier one of the same name that saw significant action in the Franch-American 'Quasi-War'). The ship, commanded by Joseph Romain-Desfossés, was active in the western Indian Ocean throughout the mid-1840s on a variety of diplomatic, exploratory, and military missions. Before it charted Mahé, for instance, the Berceau was tasked with carrying Eugène Maizan (1816 - 1845), a naval officer, explorer, and de facto diplomat from Réunion to Zanzibar, from which he entered the interior of East Africa, being perhaps the first European to do so (Maizan was murdered shortly after arriving on the African mainland). Afterward, the ship likely saw action in a joint French-British military expedition against Tamatave on Madagascar.

The 'M. Bélot, referred to in the subtitle, might be Joseph René Bellot (1826 - 1853), who was active in the region at this time and afterward became an Arctic explorer as a member of a 1851 search for the lost Franklin Expedition. Bellot distinguished himself on the voyage but died when a crack opened in the ice in Wellington Channel; he was mourned and celebrated widely in both France and Britain.

Historical Context

Much of French imperial history in the 19th century was the result of competition with and a sense of inferiority vis-à-vis the British. France held several overseas territories but lacked anything on the order of the wealth and prestige the British gained from their effective control of India. These concerns led the French to consider establishing their own string of colonies in the Indian Ocean and eventually to the East Indies and China. In fact, this desire was in theory only solidifying earlier French claims: in addition to Réunion, which was and has remained part of France, the French also laid claim to Seychelles, Mauritius, and the Chagos Archipelago in the 18th century as part of a larger Isle de France colony, but these territories were seized by Britain in the course of the Napoleonic Wars (Réunion was occupied but returned to France at the end of the conflict).

Seeking to recover some of their lost prestige and power, in 1840, France gained a protectorate over the island of Nosy Be and part of the mainland of Madagascar and stationed troops there the following year. In 1841, the territory of Mayotte was purchased from the King of Boina on Madagascar, and has been part of France ever since. These moves were a prelude to more aggressive actions later in the 19th century, including a protectorate over all of Madagascar in 1882, followed by its complete colonization in 1897, and claims on several atolls around Madagascar (the 'Scattered Islands' of Îles Éparses).

The Anglo-French rivalry in the Indian Ocean was a strange one. The leading voice for colonial expansion in France at the time, Foreign Minister (and at times Prime Minister) François Guizot (1787 - 1874), was Anglophone and an Anglophile by instinct (he translated Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire into French), who saw Britain as a partner rather than an enemy. Aside from a desire to keep the peace (the Napoleonic Wars still fresh in their minds), the two countries worked together in this era to expand commercial exchanges and suppress the slave trade (though not slavery itself). They even cooperated on some military actions, including a joint blockage of the Rio de la Plata. Even after Guizot's tenure, the French were loath to challenge the British directly, knowing they would be at a significant disadvantage in any naval confrontation. As in Asia more broadly, the French settled into a secondary role in the Indian Ocean, with Réunion and Madagascar as strongholds, jealously watching the ever-expanding writ of Great Britain.

Publication History and Census

This 1849 chart was engraved by Charles Dyonnet and A. Blanchard, both of the Dépôt-général de la marine. It is based on a 1825 British chart prepared by Capt. William Fitzwilliam Owen of the Royal Navy, with updates added by French navigators aboard the corvette Le Berceau in the mid-1840s. This chart is not recorded in the OCLC and is only held by the Netherlands Nationaal Archief and the Bibliothèques de Marseille. Scarce to the market.

Cartographers

Dépôt des Cartes et Plans de la Marine (fl. 1720 - present), often called the Dépôt Général de la Marine, was a French hydrographic mapping organization founded in 1720 under Charles-Hercule of Albert de Luynes (1674 - 1734). Much like the U.S. Coast Survey, the British Admiralty, and the Spanish Deposito Hydrografico, the Dépôt was initiated as a storehouse and distribution center of existing nautical and marine charts. Eventually the Dépôt initiated its own mapping activities in an attempt to improve and expand upon existing material. Some of the more prominent cartographers and hydrographers associated with the of Dépôt Générale des Cartes were, Philippe Buache, Jacques-Nicholas Bellin, Giovanni Rizzi-Zannoni, Rigobert Bonne, and Jean Nicolas Buache.   Further Details...

Charles Dyonnet (fl. c. 1822 - c. 1880) was an extremely active Paris based engraver working in the mid to late 19th century. From his offices at 220 Rue St. Jacques, Paris, Dyonnet engraved numerous maps for many of the most prominent 19th French cartographic publishers including Vuillemin, Dufour, Fremin and Duvotenay. From 1850-1861, he held the coveted position of "Graveur du Dépot de la Marine," and in this position engraved numerous French naval and military maps. Dyonnet had a detail oriented and aesthetically minded hand and is responsible from some of the most beautiful French maps to emerge during the 19th century.   Further Details...

Condition

Fine.