THE SEYCHELLES ARCHIPELAGO - A STUDY OF CARTHOGRAPHY

This group of islands, one of the most beautiful samples of tropical nature that we have been able to admire in the Indian Ocean, at the centre of which it lies, is not only interesting from the point of view of landscape and natural productions. Far more serious at the end of this essentially practical century, it is becoming of capital importance as a naval and strategic station for England against France.

Discovered or rather studied for the first time by the French in the middle of the eighteenth century (1742), it remained in their possession until 1794, when it was taken from us by England. Mahé de la Bourdonnais, whose name the main island bears, Poivre and Des Roches, intelligent administrators of the Iles de France and Bourbon, gifted with a remarkable practical sense, coupled with an enlightened patriotism, had judged that this new conquest could become a source of wealth for the mother country and a protection for our colonies of Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands, to which it is, so to speak, the key. The soil and climate of these fortunate islands seemed to them, with good reason, eminently favourable to the cultivation of coffee and what were then known as spices: pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. These rich products were, thanks to Poivre's orders, taken with great difficulty by our sailors, the first to Arabia, the others to the Moluccan islands where the Dutch guarded them with jealous care. Spices soon flourished admirably on Mahé Island, whereas on Ile de France and Bourbon they produced only inferior products. Our sailors had also discovered in the Seychelles a wealth of the most precious wood for shipbuilding and cabinetmaking. In their reports to the Minister of the Navy, they never ceased to point out how important possession of this archipelago was for France. The strategic point of view also struck them. Possession of these islands," said L. Degrandpré, "is of the utmost importance to France... The port and roadstead of the Seychelles are a point within reach of the Ile de France from which it can be threatened and its communications with India cut off; also, supposing that they were of no use, it would still be important for the French government that its enemies did not seize them" (...) All this is so true that the English, as soon as they were masters of the Ile de France, now Mauritius, completed their conquest with that of the Seychelles.

More recently, in 1882, a former English governor of the Seychelles, Mr C. S. Salmon, wrote a letter on the subject to the leading newspaper The Times, (...): "These islands could easily be made as impregnable as Malta, being much easier to defend and much more difficult to take; the port and the town are unassailable by land and can be made so from the sea.... Indeed, thanks to the coral banks, these islands can only be entered from inside the port. He concluded by saying: "What France wouldn't give for the Seychelles, spending millions of francs on the futile attempt to create a port on Reunion Island". Ever since our friendly neighbours from across the Rhine gained a foothold on the coast of Africa, they too have realised the importance of the Seychelles as a health station for their troops and crews, and they thought for a moment of obtaining its cession from England. But having seized Zanzibar, it preferred to abandon the island of Heligoland to the Germans and keep the Seychelles, which for it are the key to the Indian Ocean and the coast of Africa, just as Hong Kong is the key to the Chinese seas and the coasts of the Celestial Empire. Armed with this foothold, it radiates from there to develop its maritime power and, if possible, ruin our influence in Madagascar. It has only relinquished the protectorate to us in the hope of rendering possession of it useless, and determining us to relinquish it to it, by seizing all the islands in the vicinity which may command the Malagasy mainland and our military station at Diego-Suarez (...).

The Seychelles archipelago, which we have so sadly lost interest in, is becoming one of the most important factors in England's persevering policy. She is currently developing the resources of Mahé Island as a sanatorium and anchorage for her war fleets. Lighthouses, buoys and beacons have been installed there for several years. Before the end of 1893, an underwater telegraph cable will be laid between Zanzibar and Mauritius, landing in the Seychelles. This will enable all these points to communicate with London, which is already linked to Zanzibar.
Soon torpedoes will be drowned in the passes of this marvellous harbour of Mahé where, unlike Diego-Suarez, you can always enter. This is because it is located near the Equator, far from the cyclone zone, whereas at Cap d'Ambre we often have to fight against violent currents and gales which make the entrance to Diego-Suarez as difficult as it is dangerous, and sometimes even impassable. Unfortunately, this port is in the cyclone zone, and has just been ravaged by one (on 21 February last). The Seychelles will continue to be defended, if necessary, by forts armed with state-of-the-art cannons like those in Hong Kong, Singapore, Aden, Mauritius, etc. If necessary, a port of call will be built there. If necessary, a squadron of torpedo boats will be placed there and our ancient colony, sacrificed out of ignorance, like the all-too-famous acres of snow in Canada, will become the most important port in the Indian Ocean, at the centre of which it is admirably placed, commanding the routes to the Cape, India, Australia and even Malaya, China and Japan, countries which, thanks to the ever-increasing speed of warships and merchant ships, are getting closer to Europe every day. I am not talking about our possessions in the Comoros, Madagascar and Bourbon which, in the first naval war between France and England, would immediately fall into the hands of the English fleet, which would leave on telegraphic orders from Zanzibar, Bombay, Cape Town, Mahé or Mauritius, even before our compatriots could be notified of the declaration of hostilities in Hell-Ville, Diego-Suarez or Saint-Denis de la Réunion, all points deprived of telegraphic communications and so poorly defended that it is pointless to mention them as strongholds.

We are therefore firmly convinced that Mahé of the Seychelles, two famous names in our history, is tending to take on a growing influence every day, which could become crucial in the next war. This importance, verified on the spot in 1889 and 1891, struck us so much that we were led to study the very interesting history of these islands closely. (...)

In concluding this long cartographic study of the Seychelles, it remains for us to hope that our neighbours, who had the foresight to take these islands from us, do not make too bad a use of them against us in Bourbon, Comoros and Madagascar. More conservative than us, they have had the good taste to restore to the main island the name of the man who discovered it, Mahé (...). Let us hope that they will allow the French and Catholic population complete freedom in the use of our language and the practice of our religion, and that they will thus prove themselves to be both skilful politicians and intelligent colonisers.