Kerguelen map
I first became aware of the existence of Kerguelen when the yacht racer Tony Bullimore capsized in the middle of nowhere in Antarctic seas east of this loneliest of places. It is a sparsely populated place of a desolate, treeless solitude where the Indian Ocean meets the Antarctic waters.
This land of bays, inlets, fjords, coves, hot springs, mountains and glaciers was first discovered by the Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen de Trémarec in February 1772. On the 18 of July that year he assured King Louis XV of France that his newly received lands were uninhabited. Promptly he was made a captain, skipping the list of seniority in naval personnel and was awarded the Order of Saint Louis.
However Kerguelen’s reputation was soon tarnished by his inexplicable reluctance to engage in dialogue over his discovery. Calling the islands a “third world” and “Australasia” he allowed various commentators disseminate the rumour that they were peopled by “natives, living in their primitive state, showing neither mistrust nor remorse, and ignorant of the artfulness of civilised men”. He became bitter about his discovery and did not wish to go ashore on his return voyage.
Over time others came to try to make this land work for them.
The Bossière Brothers, Henri and René, after whom a glacier is named, were conceded the territory for 50 years by the French government. The sons of a ship-owner they outfitted a one-time whaler and pursued their dream of raising sheep and starting a whaling and sealing industry in 1908. They both died in 1941, penniless and forgotten.
Captain Cook was momentarily distracted by the lands in 1776. A Latin message in a bottle deposited between two rocks told him to clear right off:
Lucovico XV Galliarum
Rege et d. de Boynes
Regis a Secretis ad res
Maritimas annis 1772 et 1773.
Even the Nazis tried their luck. Nine men arrived in the disguised boat, Atlantis, and decided the place was quiet, too quiet. It must be a trap. Writing later Ulrich Mohr described the hastily vacated island, in particular one hut had a calendar stopped on November 8 1936 with a picture of a blond drinking Pernod. There was a loaf of bread in the room. Anyway, the Germans were left all alone and still managed to run their ship aground and have one of their crew die while effecting repairs.
In 1974 there was a campaign of FUSOV (Franco-Soviet) rocket launches. 20 M100 rockets were launched from the Courbet peninsula, for some reason presumably.
Come here, see these: Southern Elephant Seal, Antarctic Fur Seal, Leopard Seal, Commerson’s Dolphin and Humpback Whale, King penguin, Gentoo penguin, Rockhopper penguin, Macaroni Penguin, Albatross, Sheathbills, Cormorants, Petrels, Seagulls, Prions, Skuas, Terns
The local waters are full of abundant marine flora due to their temperate nature. On land most plants are low and scrubby such as the edible Kerguelen cabbage, a good source of vitamin C to sailors. But don’t cook it – our hapless Nazis did this and rightly stank out their ship.
Wooly Bizet Sheep were introduced in 1958. Port Bizet is named after these creatures. The sheep suffer a high mortality rate at birth of about one quarter, having been unable to adjust their reproductive cycle to coincide with the seasons of the southern hemisphere, which means mothers give birth during the southern winters when food is less abundant. Also introduced were Corsican Mountain Sheep (unknown when introduced or by whom), 4000 reindeer introduced by Norwegians, feral rabbits and cats, and of course rats as with everywhere else ships have visited. Chard and trout were also introduced and the chard now thrive in the mineral-rich freshwater.
This article was posted by Ronan McDonnell on
Friday, November 28th, 2008 at
05:39.
It is archived in History, Wild Places and tagged Geography, History.
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