[page 236]


168.

168.

it was there, in such good weather and so close to land, that we should have perished.

davon gekommen und nun jetzt bey einem so schönen Wetter gantz nahe am Land zugrund gehen.

The same day, around 10 o’clock in the evening, the war ship La Bourgogne[307] met up with us, passed right by us, and we could talk to one another for about half and hour, the amount of time it stayed beside us; then the ship set off again, and when it had moved away from us and was within a rifle shot[308] away in the direction of land, we heard a dreadful cracking. The ship had struck a rock so seriously that it broke into pieces. As soon as we heard that, we immediately made a right turn in the opposite direction toward the high sea. At daybreak we looked for the land we had seen the day before, but it had disappeared, because during the night we had drifted more than 50 hours toward the open sea.

Den nemlichen Tag abends gegen 10 Uhr kame das Kriegschiff La Bourgongne welches gantz nahe bey uns vorbeyfuhre und auch mit uns redete, es hiel-te sich ohngefähr eine halbe Stund lang bey uns auf ; alsdann fuhre es wiedrum seinen Weg, es wahre ohngefähr einen Bichsen-Schuß weit von uns entfernet gegen dem Lande, alsdan höreten wir es schon krachen daß entsetzlich ware. Dieses Schiff fuhre auf einen Felßen daß es gantz zerscheiderte. Sobald wir daß gehöret hatten machten wir gleich Rechts-Umkehrt gegen dem hohen Meer. Sobald es Tag ware sahen wir uns um nach dem Land allwo wir den Tag vorher gewesen seyn, aber es ware kein Land mehr vorhanden, weilen wir die Nacht über 50 Stund weit aufs hohe Meer hinaus gefahren seyn.

As for the ship shattered on the rock, it remained aground and half fallen to pieces during the black night with its 954 men. Nearly all of them perished, save 35 of them who had taken refuge at the front of the ship, which had not yet sunk.

Was das verunglückte Schiff auf dem Felßen anbelangt saße noch bey dunckler Nacht halb zerscheidert alda worauf waren 954 Mann. Diese seynd alle zugrund gegangen biß auf 35 Mann welche sich noch auf dem Vordertheil vom Schiff errettet hatten welches noch frey vom Wasser ware.

Those who were able to save their own lives had to wait 5 days with no food or drink, until a frigate from Curaçao came to get them.

Diejenige so das Leben noch errettet hatten mußten 5. Tage lang ohne gessen und ohne getruncken seyn, biß sie abgeholt wurden durch eine Fregat von Ciracau.

[réclame]

den

https://gallica.bnf.fr/iiif/ark:/12148/btv1b10110846m/f119/pct:0,0,50,100/,700/0/native.jpg

Strasbourg, Médiathèque André Malraux, ms f 15, p. 236.

[agrandir]


 Notes

307. The war ship La Bourgogne was a vessel with 74 cannons, launched in 1766, (not to be confused with the ship Le Duc de Bourgogne). It was part of the De Grasse fleet in America. After the Battle of the Saintes (April 9-12, 1782), La Bourgogne reached Boston in August and part of the Bourbonnais regiment boarded it. During the night of the 3 to the 4 of February 1783, between the island of Curaçao and Puerto-Cabello, La Bourgogne ran aground near Ubero Point off the coast of Coro (in the north of Venezuela). Flohr’s account is secondhand, as he could not have directly witnessed the sinking of the ship at night, even though he was “within a rifle shot” from it. “The dreadful cracking” heard by the occupants of l’Île de France is also doubtful, as La Bourgogne would have run aground on a sand bank. On the other hand, the narrative following the shipwreck concerning the officers’ and sailors’ conduct is in accordance with the other available versions. What made this unfortunate incident stand out was the behavior of the officers and of Captain Champmartin, who abandoned their crew and ship. [JBJ Champagnac, Histoire Abrégée des Naufrages, ou extraits fidèle des relations tant anciennes que récentes des naufrages ou autres sinistres maritimes, Fruget et Brunet Libraires, Paris, 1836 ; Lettre d'un officier de l'armée de Rochambeau par le Baron Ludovic de Contenson, Le Correspondant, March 25, 1931, p. 75].
308. The distance of a rifle shot is an unofficial unit of distance used by soldiers. It corresponds to about one hundred meters.