In a post a couple of months back, I mentioned what I called “The Indus Problem” implicit in the first of the Bernardin Nageon de l’Estang letters: that even though the pre-1800 BN1 mentions “les trésors sauvés de l’Indus”, the phrase “Trésors de l’Indus” was from the well-known 1804/1805/1806 poem “La Navigation” by Joseph Esménard.
Hence if the phrase came from the poem, then the date of the letter must be wrong – and (by implication) the letter could well be fake. That would definitely be a problem with the basic evidence: and I didn’t really have a workable explanation for the phrase.
But today I came up with alternative scenario…
Captain Lewis and the “Industan”
Auguste Toussaint (1911-1987) was, without much doubt, Mauritius’s premier marine archivist and maritime historian.
While looking through his (1967) “La route des Iles: contribution à l’histoire maritime des Mascareignes” this morning, I noticed some intriguing entries:
* (p.306) 4th March 1796, the ‘navire’ “Industan” (Captain Louis) arrived from Philadelphia.
* (p.262) 22nd August 1796, the American ‘vaisseau’ “Industan” (Captain Lewis) arrived from Pondicherry.
Might Captain Lewis’ ship the “Industan” have hit the rocks near Vacoas, spilling its treasures for Bernardin Nageon de l’Estang to opportunistically get hold of? It certainly seemed a far more concrete explanation than assuming the phrase was pulled from a high-culture poem written nearly a decade in the future.
(There was also (p.311) mention of the Industrie, a ‘brick’ out of Newburyport commanded by Captain Stone, arriving on 2nd April 1804: but that would seem to have been a quite different ship.)
For the sake of completeness, there was (even though the dates don’t match BN1) a later ship called the “Indus”:
* (p.312) 10th September 1804, a 400-ton American brick called the Indus (Captain Myrick), armed in (and coming from) Boston
* (p.331) 22nd February 1805, a 400-ton American ‘vaisseau’ called the Indus (Captain Myrick) of Batavia, heading for Boston.
Toussaint also lists a similar-sounding ship called the “India”, which might well have been the (later) Indus on an earlier journey:
* (p.326) 25th April 1798, Captain Armhead, a 400-tone American ‘navire’ out of Batavia (no destination listed)
Tracing the “Industan”
(Note that this was not the British ship the Hindostan, parts of which are in Whitstable Museum, which I didn’t find time to visit when I was there this week.)
What I was looking for was an American boat called “Industan” (Captain Louis or Lewis) going from Philadelphia to Pondicherry and back, but which might possibly have hit the rocks off Mauritius (for whatever reason) in August or September 1796.
Splendidly, searching Philadelphia newspapers revealed the following advertisement from the Philadelphia Gazette that ran from March 1797 to May 1797:
So it would seem the Indostan (Captain Jacob Lewis) made it safely back to Philadelphia, and so this thread has come to an end.
But… What Happened Next?
Might the Indostan have then embarked upon a further – but far less successful – trip to Mauritius and India? I would expect that the ship would have left a little later in the 1797 season (say September), with a view to using the favourable trade wind pattern to make it across the Indian Ocean in the spring of 1798.
If this guess is right, I would expect the Indostan to have reached Mauritius in or around March 1798, which is – presumably – where it would have hit the rocks at Vacoas before reaching the island’s main port.
However: having now broadly reached the limits of my search tools, perhaps others would like to have a look and see if they can take this further.
Might there be newspaper reports of the Indostan’s subsequent departure and Indian Ocean demise out there, just waiting to be found? Might there be an obituary for Captain Jacob Lewis, or an account of his life? Who financed the ship in Philadelphia? Who insured the ship?
Plenty of interesting (and hopefully resolvable) questions. 🙂
Nick, I’m having one of my ‘blank’ memories: I am trying to recall the name of the Mariners Society which was active in the 1700’s — and particularly near the Straits of Gibralter. Their records may still be available?
bd
ps: “Industan” ? Perhaps treated as a silent “H” as in a word such as ‘Hour” ?
Maybe, if this is a ship’s name, it would be spelled Hindustan ( a native of India, for instance, would probably be calling themselves “Hindi”….
My guess as good as n-e — as u su al ?
bd
Quote Question: a 400 ton Brick (?) 400 ton brigantine or frigate?
bdid1dr: a brick is much closer to a brigantine than to a frigate, but I’m not a marine historian.
Nick, A brig and brigantine are two different sail layouts. The isle of France is undoubtedly Madagascar.
Years ago, my late wife and I had a manuscript company and dealt once with a maritime expert, Bob Lucas, who had a huge library of maritime related items, including ship registries. I am drawing a blank on his address but it was in New England. We sold him a passenger manifest of a ship leaving Boston that was bound for the Sandwich Islands (i.e. Hawaii) and we were surprised by the fact that all were single men and their occupations listed. Well It got around Cape Horn, docked in San Francisco but never left. This was 1848 and the passengers were all heading for the gold fields of CA, not Hawaii at all. Bob bought it from a dealer we sold it to (we bought it from a a dealer in the UK) and really jacked up the price (to $400 some 25 yrs ago or so) as it never sailed from SF and became a prison ship, the first prison in the area of the capital, Sacramento. There is a publication of the manuscript society of the US but I again am blanking on the name of that as well. Undoubtedly Bob Lucas would be listed as a member. Anyway, Bob would be the contact from whom you would get the most info concerning your quest. Cheers, Tom
Nick & ThomS : For the life of me — I cannot remember the name of the Sailors’ Society which was active for several hundred years (Portuguese? Henry VII ? Much of their travels were focused on keeping the Cape (of Good Hope?) open and piracy at bay. Mauritius?
A fascinating book, written by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, “Pathfinders – A Global History of Exploration”. There is even an illustrated discussion of a plant which was the only source of edible greenery the sailors depended on to prevent scurvy: Oxalis enneaphylla. Oh well — I’ve deviated from the main subject once again !
Sorry!
bd
Dear BD et al., Scurvy was a huge problem for Scott and his Royal Navy sponsored race to the South Pole, It was no problem for Shackleton or Amundsen. The latter two ate fresh meat, either their pooped dogs, penguins or seals. Scott had the goofy idea that it was from bad meat and that canned beef (bully beef) would prevent it. He considered his dogs pets and could not bear to eat his friends. Well what about those limes that gave the old Br. navy the nickname “limeys”. Not content with eating fresh limes with their high content of vitamin C, the Royal Navy tried a lime juice concentrate and in the process destroyed the vital vitamin C. So concentrated lime juice was worthless. Scott and his companions suffered the effects of scurvy that starts with muscles, then the brain and finally the classic mouth sores. Even some of Shackleton’s expedition of his last attempt to cross Antarctica who were on the ship Aurora and supposed to meet him half way having laid depots of food and fuel, came down with scurvy as they did not like the taste of seals. They had the idea of launching out on ice flows to speed along and were never heard of again. Well it made no difference as Shackleton’s ship Endurance got caught in the ice, broke up and sank. Ernest Shackleton got every man under his direct command back to civilization in one of the greatest rescues of all time. WW1 was coming on and the Royal Navy said “no can do” when he appealed for help, but the Chileans came through with an icebreaker and rescued the party he left on Elephant Island.
Well BD, I think Scott and his misinformed MDs created havoc in trying to avoid scurvy. Good that there were others who went their own way with greens. Cheers, Tom
ps. Nick, I found an old membership list (1993) of the manuscript Society, but no Robert Lucas listed at that time.
Nick, I ran down Bob Lucas, antiquarian dealer of maritime books, and manuscripts in Blandsford, MA. Unfortunately he died of aggressive lymphoma in Feb of 2001, only 59 yrs of age. I have no idea where his reference materials ended up. Bob had gone into NE authors and poets including Thoreau and Emily Dickenson as specializations toward the end of his career. He was a fellow chemist but never got a degree. He put in 4 years under a world class chemist at Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY but got so intrigued by old patent medicine bottles he uncovered in his search for plant pathogens in the field that he left chemistry for his own patent medicine research and never looked back.
Since the Indus or Industan was an American ship, you might pick up a copy of the “American Bookman” and look for the “always wanted” section for dealers specializing in maritime items. I have searched a bit in some of my sources but no luck at the moment. Brisk trade did exist out of Boston, Newburyport, Philadelphia and other ports with the Far East, going around Cape of Good Hope to Madagascar, Mauritius, Sumatra and India. Even making a profit at $0.01 a pound at shipping blocks of ice packed in sawdust to the hot climes. Americans created a market and then rushed to fill it, as the Brits did later in their trade with India. India pale ale was not a product of India but was made aboard Indiamen as the time of the trip was just right to brew up a batch. I’ll dig a bit more as I have some references still from the days when my wife and I were into ship logs, even whaling logs which cost a bundle (@ $5-10K ) and did tie up capital. All for now, Tom
Hakluyt I’m hoping I remember that there was, at one time, a Hakluyt Society. Queen Elizabeth and Phillip II — and their letter to Xtoph Colombe telling him to claim lands on his way to China…….
bd
Nick, Mystic, CT has an online searching facility (no membership, password, etc. required) which will do searches on ships and masters (and even crews) from 1857 onward. For earlier shipping they will respond to email queries. Unfortunately my email program is not accepted and my operating system is too ancient to be upgraded. Rats. So no luck searching for Indus or Industan. Too many Lewis’ too be useful. It is legendary in having one of the world’s great collection of ship logs. I recall reading a preface once to a book on whaling by their, then curator, on plotting the course of an early American sealer in Antarctic waters and determining that this guy discovered Antarctica about ten years before the Brits got credit for it. For him having a private sealing ground was more important than the fame of discovery. Mystic also does Br. shipping. Cheers, Tom
Oh, dear me!
I have just visited the Hakluyt Society’s page (which will be having their Annual General Meeting : 22 June 2016 — a week from today). One of my favorite writers of the “New World/New Spain” is Professor Felipe Fernandez Armesto: author of “1492 – The Year the World Began” . “The Times” – London — reviewed Professor Armesto’s book: “A compendium of delights.”
bdid1dr
Nick ( & Tom): In addition to scurvy, another death-dealing ingredient in those canned foods was lead (used to seal the cans).
bd
Any new news from the Hakluyt Society? I’m still hoping that Professor Armesto participated — and that some commentary may appear on the WWW.
bd
BD, Yep. well preserved cadavers from Sir John Franklin’s effort to find a Northwest passage, indicate higher than normal lead levels in their bodies. Acidic foods like tomatoes would be more prone to leach out lead used in sealing the cans.
Amundsen was successful by choosing a hull design (like Nansen’s Fram) that could be frozen in and gradually rise up in the closing ice. He lived then with his crew among the Inuits for the winter although ordering the men under him to have nothing to do with their women as most had syphilis from contacts with French traders/trappers. He did learn tricks from the Inuits like pouring water on the runners of his sledges that would freeze and provide a smoother surface for sledding. He learned how to catch seals by using a little balanced twig that would tumble when seals would bump their noses repeatedly up under ice as they would search for a breathing hole. None of his crew got scurvy as they dined on seal meat. In my opinion he deserves more credit for finding a Northwest Passage than his less important success in finding the South Pole, one month ahead of Scott. Cheers, Tom