Paul Antoine Fleuriot de Langle
Encyclopedia
Paul Antoine Fleuriot de Langle (1 August 1744, château de Kerlouët at Quemper-Guézennec
, Côtes-d'Armor
– 11 December 1787, Maouna, Samoa
) was a French vicomte, académicien de marine, naval commander and explorer. He was second in command of the La Pérouse expedition
, which departed France on 1 August 1785 and was eventually lost in the Pacific. Fleuriot de Langle died in an encounter with natives in what is now American Samoa
before the expedition was lost; his remains were returned to France, and were buried in the choir of the church of Saint-Louis at Brest
.
from 1774. He commanded L'expériment in the American Revolutionary War
, and then commanded l'Astrée in the Hudson Bay expedition
under his friend La Pérouse
's orders.
For Fleuriot de Langle's expertise, knowledge of math and astronomy, and force of character, La Pérouse chose him as his deputy for his next expedition, commanding the 114-man frigate Astrolabe
(accompanied by the Boussole
) on a voyage of exploration into the Pacific Ocean
. On the return voyage in 1787, fearing scurvy
among his crew, Langle and La Pérouse landed on the Samoa
n island of Maouna to look for drinking water and fresh food, which they were running out of (Langle and La Pérouse both recognised the importance of fresh food in fighting scurvy, and Langle - unlike La Pérouse - was persuaded by the observations of Captain Cook
that fresh water was also valuable in this regard). With their boats laden with water barrels, they waited for a tide high enough to rejoin their ship, but were in the meantime faced with ravishing young women, their hair decorated with hibiscus
, advancing across the beach towards them and (according to the survivors' accounts) offering them sex. After many weeks at sea, these advances were evidently not unananimously rebuffed and extreme confusion and disorder followed.
To convince the indigenous chiefs to re-establish order, and to divert the ladies' attention, Fleuriot de Langle offered the women several trivial objects, and they retired in good order. The exchange of gifts and the inevitable comparisons that followed created jealousies and only boosted the tensions. Soon 7 to 8 thousand hostile natives encircled the boats and the casks and prevented the French from re-embarking, but de Langle refused to fire on them since the French king's orders had been to keep the mission pacifique (peaceful). Hit on the head by a stone, he fell into the water, dead, and his sailors opened fire. In the ensuing battle, 12 sailors were killed and 20 wounded and finished off with club blows, and the natives were massacred.
Paul-Antoine Fleuriot de Langle figures on a Monument to the Dead on the site on the island of Tutuila
in American Samoa
, inscribed "Inauguré en 1883 pour honorer la mémoire de onze membres de l'expédition Lapérouse massacrés en ce lieu." (inuagurated in 1883 to honour the memory of de Langle and the 11 other members of the Lapérouse expedition massacred on this site).
Fleuriot de Langle was posthumously promoted to chef de Division on 24 April 1788. Angered by his death, La Pérouse sank more than 100 pirogue
s containing over 500 people before leaving this island, but said I found myself mistaken in my choice of victims, the cry of my conscience saved their lives. He said of de Langle that "He died for his humanity" and "I have lost by the most horrific of treasons my best friend, my friend for thirty years. A man full of spirit, judgement, knowledge, and certainly one of the best officers in all the fleets of Europe". His remains were buried in the choir of the church of Saint-Louis at Brest
.
on 24 January 1788, and had some contact with the officers of the First Fleet
under Captain Arthur Phillip
(but not Phillip personally) who had arrived that same week to set up the colony of New South Wales
. They remained until 10 March and then set off, never to be heard from again. Missions to discover its fate determined that the expedition's ships were sunk at Vanikoro
, to the north of New Guinea
, probably in March 1788. It was only in 1826 that the debris of de Langle's ship was found on Vanikoro — a fragment of sculpted wood, a silver écuelle
stamped with a fleurs de lys, and a bronze ship's bell, all of which are now in the Musée de la Marine. It is impossible to reconstruct the exact circumstances of its sinking.
An expedition to Vanikoro in 1999 dived on the wrecks of La Boussole and L'Astrolabe, finding a graphomètre à pinnules similar to one found at Numbo in 1885. This follows finds of a silver fork with the coat of arms of Fleuriot de Langle, a Louis d'or
, Spanish and Russian coins, an alcohol thermometer, a ship's whistle, part of a bilge pump, an anchor, a cask of dragon, a crucifix, a human statue, ship's débris, a copper sieve, musket balls, an engraved domino, bottles, pitchers, goblets, trivial trade items and officers' medals and high collars.
Quemper-Guézennec
Quemper-Guézennec is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Bretagne in northwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Quemper-Guézennec are called quemperrois.-External links:*...
, Côtes-d'Armor
Côtes-d'Armor
Côtes-d'Armor is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France.-History:Côtes-du-Nord was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Brittany. Its name was changed in 1990 to...
– 11 December 1787, Maouna, Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
) was a French vicomte, académicien de marine, naval commander and explorer. He was second in command of the La Pérouse expedition
Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse was a French Navy officer and explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania.-Early career:...
, which departed France on 1 August 1785 and was eventually lost in the Pacific. Fleuriot de Langle died in an encounter with natives in what is now American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
before the expedition was lost; his remains were returned to France, and were buried in the choir of the church of Saint-Louis at Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
.
Life
He was a member of the Académie de MarineAcadémie de Marine
The Royal Naval Academy of France was founded at Brest by a ruling of 31 July 1752 by Antoine Louis de Rouillé, comte de Jouy, Secretary of State for the Navy...
from 1774. He commanded L'expériment in the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, and then commanded l'Astrée in the Hudson Bay expedition
Hudson Bay Expedition
The Hudson Bay expedition of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse was a series of military raids on the lucrative fur trading posts and fortifications of the Hudson's Bay Company on the shores of Hudson Bay by a squadron of the French Royal Navy...
under his friend La Pérouse
Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse was a French Navy officer and explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania.-Early career:...
's orders.
For Fleuriot de Langle's expertise, knowledge of math and astronomy, and force of character, La Pérouse chose him as his deputy for his next expedition, commanding the 114-man frigate Astrolabe
French ship Astrolabe (1781)
The Astrolabe was a converted fluyt of the French Navy, famous for her travels with Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse.She departed Brest on 1 August 1785 under Paul Antoine Fleuriot de Langle, along with the Boussole under La Pérouse....
(accompanied by the Boussole
French ship Boussole (1781)
Boussole was a ship of the French Navy, famous for its exploration of the Pacific with Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse.It departed Brest on 1 August 1785 under La Pérouse, accompanied by the Astrolabe under Paul Antoine Fleuriot de Langle.The expedition vanished mysteriously in 1788...
) on a voyage of exploration into the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. On the return voyage in 1787, fearing scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
among his crew, Langle and La Pérouse landed on the Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
n island of Maouna to look for drinking water and fresh food, which they were running out of (Langle and La Pérouse both recognised the importance of fresh food in fighting scurvy, and Langle - unlike La Pérouse - was persuaded by the observations of Captain Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
that fresh water was also valuable in this regard). With their boats laden with water barrels, they waited for a tide high enough to rejoin their ship, but were in the meantime faced with ravishing young women, their hair decorated with hibiscus
Hibiscus
Hibiscus is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is quite large, containing several hundred species that are native to warm-temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world...
, advancing across the beach towards them and (according to the survivors' accounts) offering them sex. After many weeks at sea, these advances were evidently not unananimously rebuffed and extreme confusion and disorder followed.
To convince the indigenous chiefs to re-establish order, and to divert the ladies' attention, Fleuriot de Langle offered the women several trivial objects, and they retired in good order. The exchange of gifts and the inevitable comparisons that followed created jealousies and only boosted the tensions. Soon 7 to 8 thousand hostile natives encircled the boats and the casks and prevented the French from re-embarking, but de Langle refused to fire on them since the French king's orders had been to keep the mission pacifique (peaceful). Hit on the head by a stone, he fell into the water, dead, and his sailors opened fire. In the ensuing battle, 12 sailors were killed and 20 wounded and finished off with club blows, and the natives were massacred.
Paul-Antoine Fleuriot de Langle figures on a Monument to the Dead on the site on the island of Tutuila
Tutuila
Tutuila is the largest and the main island of American Samoa in the archipelago of Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain of the Central Pacific located roughly northeast of Brisbane, Australia and over northeast of Fiji. It contains a large, natural harbor,...
in American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
, inscribed "Inauguré en 1883 pour honorer la mémoire de onze membres de l'expédition Lapérouse massacrés en ce lieu." (inuagurated in 1883 to honour the memory of de Langle and the 11 other members of the Lapérouse expedition massacred on this site).
Fleuriot de Langle was posthumously promoted to chef de Division on 24 April 1788. Angered by his death, La Pérouse sank more than 100 pirogue
Pirogue
A pirogue is a small, flat-bottomed boat of a design associated particularly with the Cajuns of the Louisiana marsh. In West Africa they were used as traditional fishing boats. These boats are not usually intended for overnight travel but are light and small enough to be easily taken onto land...
s containing over 500 people before leaving this island, but said I found myself mistaken in my choice of victims, the cry of my conscience saved their lives. He said of de Langle that "He died for his humanity" and "I have lost by the most horrific of treasons my best friend, my friend for thirty years. A man full of spirit, judgement, knowledge, and certainly one of the best officers in all the fleets of Europe". His remains were buried in the choir of the church of Saint-Louis at Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
.
Epilogue
After the massacres, L'Astrolabe and La Boussole arrived at Botany BayBotany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
on 24 January 1788, and had some contact with the officers of the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
under Captain Arthur Phillip
Arthur Phillip
Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...
(but not Phillip personally) who had arrived that same week to set up the colony of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. They remained until 10 March and then set off, never to be heard from again. Missions to discover its fate determined that the expedition's ships were sunk at Vanikoro
Vanikoro
Vanikoro is an island from the Santa Cruz group, located 118 km to the Southeast of the main Santa Cruz group. It belongs administratively to the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands....
, to the north of New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, probably in March 1788. It was only in 1826 that the debris of de Langle's ship was found on Vanikoro — a fragment of sculpted wood, a silver écuelle
Écuelle
Écuelle is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Franche-Comté in eastern France.-References:*...
stamped with a fleurs de lys, and a bronze ship's bell, all of which are now in the Musée de la Marine. It is impossible to reconstruct the exact circumstances of its sinking.
An expedition to Vanikoro in 1999 dived on the wrecks of La Boussole and L'Astrolabe, finding a graphomètre à pinnules similar to one found at Numbo in 1885. This follows finds of a silver fork with the coat of arms of Fleuriot de Langle, a Louis d'or
Louis d'or
The Louis d'or is any number of French coins first introduced by Louis XIII in 1640. The name derives from the depiction of the portrait of King Louis on one side of the coin; the French royal coat of arms is on the reverse...
, Spanish and Russian coins, an alcohol thermometer, a ship's whistle, part of a bilge pump, an anchor, a cask of dragon, a crucifix, a human statue, ship's débris, a copper sieve, musket balls, an engraved domino, bottles, pitchers, goblets, trivial trade items and officers' medals and high collars.
External links
- http://perso.wanadoo.fr/passion.histoire/Fleuriot.html
- His genealogy on geneanet samlap
- http://www.davidrumsey.com/maps160.html