Pierre François Péron
French Captain Pierre François Péron, born in 1769 at Lambézellec, near Brest, was a French sailor and trading captain who sailed to many different locations in the late 18th century. He owned his ship until it was captured by the British, following which he became a sealer and adventurer.
Captain Péron reports that he was marooned three years (from 1792 to 1795) on New Amsterdam Island or Île Amsterdam. He wrote an account about being marooned for 40 months gathering sealskins on that lonely Southern Indian Ocean island.[2][3] There was confusion in the early days between Amsterdam and
Later, Lion captured the French ship Emélie, the vessel that had landed the sealers. Deprived of the ship that had landed them, Péron and his men spent some 40 months marooned on the island until Captain Thomas Hadley, in Ceres, rescued them in late 1795 and took them to Port Jackson.[4]
After being rescued, Péron travelled via
The Otter then became the first known European merchant vessel to visit Tonga where several escaped convicts landed. After sighting Niue, the Otter reached Pukapuka on 3 April 1796. Peron, Thomas Muir and a small party landed ashore but the inhabitants did not allow them to inspect the island. Trading later took place near the ship as adzes, mats and other artifacts were exchanged for knives and European goods.
This island was given the name "Isles de la Loutre" (Otter Islands) by Péron: "Everything united to convince us that we had the right to attribute to ourselves the honour of having discovered three new islands; and with this conviction I gave them the name of Otter Islands [Isles de la Loutre] which was the name of our vessel. In order to distinguish them we named the eastern one 'Peron and Muir' (Motu Ko), the one to the north 'Dorr' (Pukapuka), and the name of 'Brown' (Motu Kotowa) was given to the third, after one of our officers." Peron[2]
From Pukapuka the Otter sailed to Nootka Sound where furs were obtained and Muir was transferred to the Spanish vessel Sutil under José Tobar y Tamariz and taken to Monterey where he was received by governor Diego Borica. In his accounts, Péron writes about the Pacific Northwest and its natives, as well as an interesting account about the Hawaiian Islands. Most notable is a visit to California, by then a Spanish colony, including a stay at Monterey in 1796. This was the first time an American ship stopped in California. Péron found Monterey somewhat backward at the time.[2][8]
Péron then travelled to San Blas, Mexico City, Veracruz, Havana, and Cádiz, finally reaching France.[2]
In 1804 Péron retired to his
Péron's Memoires, in which he describes his survival alone on Île Amsterdam, were published in a limited edition and are now an expensive collectors' item. His account contains notes on
Péron died in 1846 at Luynes.[11]
Citations
- ^ a b Vélain, Charles (1878). Description géologique de la Presqu'île d'Aden, de l'île de la Réunion, des îles Saint-Paul et Amsterdam. Paris: Typographie A. Hennuyer. pp. 221–223.
- ^ )
- ^ Pierre François Péron. "Pierre-Francois Peron". Translation of fragments of "Mémoires du Capitaine Péron". Brissot-Thivars, Paris. Retrieved 4 August 2010.
- ^ Earnshaw (1959), pp.23-24.
- ^ Notes and Queries. Oxford University Press. 27 March 1869. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
- ^ McKenzie, Peter (1831). The Life of Thomas Muir, esq., Younger, of Huntershill. W.R.McPhun.
- ^ "Thomas Muir". Edinburgh Advertiser. 1799. p. 109.
- ^ Report and proceedings, Issues 1-4. British Columbia Historical Association. 1923. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
- ^ "Statewide County HI Archives: News". USGenWeb. October 2, 2008. Archived from the original on 25 November 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- ^ "Forum Rare Books: In the news". Antiquariaat Forum. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- ^ Archives départementales d'Indre-et-Loire, numerised vital records of Luynes, death act N°60, 25 october 1846.
References
- Earnshaw, John (1959) Thomas Muir Scottish Martyr (NSW:The Stone Copying Company).
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