Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Marchand was a man on whom fortune did not smile. He
emerged from obscurity to lead a pioneering commercial expedition.
It failed and he returned to obscurity. The failure was not due to
any flaw in the project. Only the timing was wrong. Unfortunately, in
business bad timing is even more disastrous than a bad product. The
main objective of the voyage was to trade skins from North Amer-
ica with Cantonese merchants and return laden with Chinese wares
for the home market. Marchand was also anxious to stake out co-
lonial claims for France. All this had been planned under the
an-
cien régime
but, by the time Marchand sailed, at the end of 1790,
that regime had been swept away. No one at that stage realised how
far the French Revolution would go. Days before Marchand's return
in August 1792, the royal family were thrown into prison. Within
weeks the slaughter of aristocrats and officials had begun. A govern-
ment that was violently overthrowing society at home and fighting
enemies on its borders had little time or enthusiasm to spare for
overseas adventures. Thus, when Marchand's journal was turned in-
to a highly-coloured, nationalistic report it was completely ignored.
Its author could not even find a French publisher prepared to have it
printed.
Marchand set off westabout in the 300-ton
Solide
and rounded
the Horn during the month of April. His first halt for watering was in
the Marquesas. While there, he explored the islands thoroughly and
was able to add another cluster to the group shown on his chart. He
called his discovery Revolution Isles and claimed them for France.
But such imperialistic behaviour agreed ill with the new philosophy
reigning in Paris, and M. Fleurieu found it necessary to explain away
the good captain's behaviour:
Since navigation has made known to Europeans parts of the ter-
restrial globe of which the ancients did not suspect the existence, they
have persuaded themselves that the whole world belongs to them and
