Diving the Hai Siang

The Hai Siang is a 49-metre former Taiwanese fishing boat that was voluntarily sunk off the coast of Cap Homard (Reunion Island) in 1983. The name means 'wild pig' in Chinese. It lies on a sandy bottom at 55 metres deep and, if you are appropriately qualified, it makes for good diving as you can see from the photos below. We saw lots of snappers, unicorn fish, trumpetfish and clown triggerfish. Unlike the Antonio Lorenzo it rests upright.

Hai Siang looking at the bow 

Hai Siang mast

Hai Siang stern

school of snappers

me with snappers

deck, looking aft

on the seabed, off to starboard side.

mast

looking down at the deck to the entrance to the holds

To finish with, a professional photo of the Hai Siang by Gaby Barathieu:

See also:

• Diving the Antonio Lorenzo 
• Diving World Record in Reunion Island
• Synthesis & Cetacea
• Diving, Reunion Island
• Réunion overhead and underwater

Musée de Villèle

The Villèle Museum is set in the former home of a wealthy slave-owning landowner, Mme Desbassayns. The Museum was established in 1974 in order to preserve one of the most important plantation estates on the island, established by the Panon Desbassayns family at the end of the 18th century. Originally cotton and sugar were cultivated, but they were gradually replaced by sugarcane from the 1820s onwards.  The property belonged to the Villèle family from the mid-1900s until 1973. The house is accessible on a guided tour (no photos  allowed inside) and afterwards you can wander round the outbuildings and the 10-hectare park.

Villèle main house

The two-storey main house was built between 1775 and 1788, and has a neo-classical aspect with terraced roof reminiscent of the mansions of Pondicherry, a former French trading post in India. The building was constructed from rough-stone basalt and locally-fired bricks. Originally both outer and inner walls were plastered with a stucco coating called 'argamasse lime' composed of lime, sand, sugar and egg-whites. 

Pediment of the main house

Today you enter the house via the former library, where the Desbassayns family tree can now be seen. Other rooms on the ground floor are the small parlour, the office, Mme Desbassayns' bedroom (the only bedroom located on the ground floor), the large parlour, the dining room, and the pantry. The rooms on the upper floor are sometimes used to house temporary exhibitions.

back of the main house

The kitchens were located in outbuildings for safety reasons, and in Mme Desbassayns' will (dated 1845) reference is made to two separate kitchens: one for the slaves (which no longer exists) and one for the masters (still standing). This latter is in a sober building with a blank oeil de boeuf window and an enormous fireplace; the chimney-piece rests on a large piece of wood which runs the whole width of the room. To the left of the fireplace was an area for boucanage (meat curing). After his stay on the estate, in a book published in 1892, Abbot Macquet commented on both the quality and variety of the dishes served by his hostess Mme Desbassayns: turtle soup, swallows' nests, Madagascan buffalo carri, pheasants from Pondicherry, Cochin Chinese chicken, and Cape lamb. In the slave quarters however meals were made up almost exclusively of corn, cassava, pulses and beans.

former kitchen, with oeil de boeuf window

Close to the main house, the slaves' hospital was built with rough-stone whitewashed basalt, and had a wooden roof covered in shingles. Slaves' living and working conditions were characterised by harshness and discipline. Even sick slaves were set to work splitting vacoa, crushing stone, brushing wool, extracting oil or making rope. In 1918 the hospital was still in use as a treatment centre for employees working on the estate. Since 1996 a memorial inside the building has paid homage to the 461 slaves belonging to Mme Desbassayns and who were listed in a 1824 census by name, age, occupation and ethnic origin.

former slaves' hospital, now a memorial

decorated tiles (modern) depicting the slaves' hospital

bougainvillea in the garden

interesting flowers in the garden

Located in the grounds, the pavilion is a classic example of Reunion Island architecture. The wooden framework rests on a stone base, and the roof and walls are covered in hand-cut tamarind wood shingles.  The verandah has a tin roof. It is not known who originally lived in the pavilion - possibly the steward responsible for estate maintenance. 

The pavilion 

modern statue in the grounds (Mme Desbassayns reading?)

In 1827, out of 27 working sugar mills registered in the district of Saint Paul, only the mill at Saint Gilles was powered by steam. However harnessing this new energy source required abundant quantities of water and the setting up of a supply network.

old sugar mill chimney in the grounds

Consequently a hydraulic bucket-wheel, a pumping system, and a watercourse were built to supply the mill's water tank and boilers. The water was drawn and then pumped back from the Saint Gilles ravine above Bassin Bleu.

sugar mill ruins in the grounds

The hydraulic wheel, 6 metres in diameter, was located about 100 metres down from the mill and was in operation until the 1970s. During this period the surrounding area lacked running water, and the population would fill their tin water carriers in the Saint Gilles ravine at a place named Bassin La Pompe (literally 'Pump pool').

In 1845, one year before Mme Debassayns' death, the ten acres planted with coffee yielded 100 quintals, whereas the 150 acres given over to sugar cane represented a total yield of 4250 quintals of sugar. Joseph Desbassayns (1780-1850) improved sugar cane production techniques, recommending crop rotations with cassava root, which along with corn, was a staple food for workers.

Before the abolition of slavery, field slaves tended food crops: rice, cassava, corn, wheat and vegetables. Once the sugarcane harvests were underway, they were put to work in the sugar mills. In 1848 slavery was abolished and indentured labourers replaced the slaves.

If you visit the Musée de Villèle you should also visit the Chapelle Pointue, Mme Desbassayn's final resting place, which is located just across the road.

Useful information:

• Opening times: 10am-12:30 and 1:30-5:30 pm daily except Mondays and public holidays.
• Guided visits last 45 minutes and only available in French, although a brief visitor's guide in English is available on request.
• Price: €2

Related articles

• Chapelle Pointue
• Hiking in the shadow of the volcano
• Maison Rouge & the Indian Ocean Decorative Art Museum

Cimetière Marin, St Paul

The Cimetière Marin ("Marine Cemetery") is a historic cemetery on the southern outskirts of the town of St Paul, Reunion.

Entrance to the Marine Cemetery

The cemetery has been in use since 1788, although by the mid-1800s it was already full and another cemetery had to be opened to the north of the town.

old ship's anchor outside the cemetery

Over the years it has seen its share of natural disasters: a tidal wave in August 1883 following the eruption of Krakatoa, and cyclones in 1932, 1948 and 1962. It was renovated during the 1970s.

one of the cannons "guarding" the cemetery entrance

The name refers to its location next to the sea and not to the fact that it is full of sailors (marins in French), although there are quite a few sailors buried here.

general view of the cemetery, looking north-west

General view of the cemetery, looking north

The Ker-Anna was a French three-mast sailing ship which was shipwrecked off the coast of Reunion on 9th December 1894. Eight of the 14 people on board perished, and they are buried in the cemetery.

grave of the Ker-Anna sailors

Probably the cemetery's most famous grave is that of pirate Olivier "La Buse" Levasseur (1688 or 1690-1730), the scourge of the Indian Ocean during the 1720s. Together with John Taylor he perpetrated one of piracy's greatest exploits: the capture of the Portuguese great galleon Nossa Senhora do Cabo ('Our Lady of the Cape') (also known as Virgem Do Cabo ('The Virgin of the Cape')), loaded full of treasures belonging to the Bishop of Goa, (also called the Patriarch of the East Indies), and the Viceroy of Portugal, who were both on board returning home to Lisbon. After being damaged in a storm the ship had anchored off Réunion to undergo repairs. (This incident was later be used by Robert Louis Stevenson in his novel "Treasure Island" where the galleon is referred to as The Viceroy of the Indies in the account given by Long John Silver). La Buse was hanged for piracy in Reunion on 7th July 1730. Legend says that when he stood on the scaffold he had a necklace around his neck containing a cryptogram of 17 lines which he threw in the crowd while exclaiming: "Find my treasure, the one who may understand it!" What became of this necklace is unknown and the hunt for his fabulous treasure continues to motivate treasure hunters to this day.

Olivier "the Buzzard's" Levasseur grave

Another important grave is that of French poet Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle (1818 – 1894). Born in Reunion he is mainly known, as a writer, by his family name Leconte de Lisle. He took a lead role in the Parnassian movement and also translated works from Ancient Greek. In 1886 he was elected to the Académie française in succession to Victor Hugo. In 1977 his remains were transferred from the Montparnasse cemetery in mainland France to St Paul.

grave of Leconte de Lisle

central alley of the cemetery

The grave of Madame Ombeline Desbassyns can also be found here, transferred from the Chapelle Pointue.

Jubilee cross 

general view, looking inland

"If one day I die
bury me under the Latan Palm.
Its roots will invigorate me
and its fragrance will revive me"

Just outside the cemetery is a tiny public square with the bust of Bishop Alexandre Monnet (1812-1849) "Father of the Blacks". It mentions that he was expelled from the island in 1847 (for his abolitionist views), ironically just one year before slavery was abolished on Reunion.

In 2007 during cyclone Gamede some 18th-century bones were uncovered just outside the cemetery on the black sand beach; they seem to have been part of a former burial area. They were later reburied during an ecumenical ceremony and a monument was erected.

Further reading:

Bourbon Island 1730 is a graphic novel set on Reunion during the period in which La Buse was imprisoned and awaiting execution.

Related articles:

• Did you know?

Chapelle Pointue

To me what is most striking about the Chapelle Pointue (Pointed Chapel) is not its pointed spire, but its round, rotunda shape. Located in an area of Reunion known as St Gilles Les Hauts this chapel is the burial place for Mme Ombline Desbassayns, a wealthy 19th century landowner whose fortune came from sugar and coffee. Born to a rich family in 1755, she married wealthy settler Henri Paulin Panon Debassayns when she was 14 and he was 38. They had 13 children (though 4 died young) and her husband died aged 68, leaving her, aged 45, to run the family estates, which prospered, making her St Paul's richest landowner. 

Mme Desbassayns (source)

She died in 1846 and the jury is still out on whether she was a cruel woman whose ghost still inhabits the Piton de la Fournaise (where her screams can supposedly be heard from the hellish fires whenever the volcano is erupting), or whether she was - as her tombstone declares - the "second providence". Doubtless the truth probably lies somewhere between these two extremes. 

Chapelle Pointue

In order to give her slaves religious instruction and to offer a place of worship to those living in Reunion's highlands Mme Desbassayns established a chapel in the 1830s in one of her houses, at a place called l'Ermitage. Until then you had to go to the church in St Paul. Then a new rotunda-shaped chapel was built to the east of the main house (the Musée de Villèle today) on land overlooking St Gilles ravine. The first stone was laid on November 17th 1841 in the presence of the Governor Rear Admiral de Hell (who gave his name to Hellbourg), and the construction lasted 21 months. It was inaugurated on August 16th 1843 by Bishop Poncelet.

This stone commemorates the chapel's
inauguration and reads: "Dedicated to the piety 
of the faithful at the initiative of B. Ombeline M. 
Montbrun widow Panon Desbassayns, this 
cornerstone was erected in the year of our Lord 
1841 in the presence and with the blessing of 
the Apostolic Vicar Bishop Dalmont 
and Rear Admiral de Hell".

In 1856 a new, larger parish church was built in Saint Gilles les Hauts and the Chapelle Pointue essentially became a family chapel. In 1866, twenty years after her death, Mme Desbassayns' ashes were transferred from the Marine Cemetery of St Paul to the chapel. 

Mme Desbassyns' tombstone in the chapel,
 which refers to her as the "Second Providence".

During the second half of the 19th century a Jesuit missionary undertook to decorate the chapel's interior. The building was almost completely destroyed on February 4th 1932 (the anniversary of Mme Desbassayns' death) by a violent cyclone, and was reconstructed the following year with a few changes, notably the opening of four doors in the rotunda wall. In 1934 the rebuilt chapel was re-inaugurated by Bishop de Beaumont, whose motto 'With Bravery to Martyrdom' (Avec courage jusqu'au martyr) is inscribed on the coat of arms above the entrance porch.

the chapel in the 1930s (source)

In 1970 the building was classed as a heritage site, and in 1978 it came under the ownership of Reunion's General Council, who signed a 99-year lease with the Diocese Association. The General Council worked hand-in-hand with the Regional Office of Cultural Affairs to fully renovate the chapel between 2001-2003.

inside the chapel

The white marble altar was carved in Nantes in 1845 by the sculptor Vital Bousquet.

inside the chapel, showing the white marble altar 

The architecture of the building is composite, combining neo-Gothic style (ogival archways) with Asian influences (a roof reminiscent of a Chinese pagoda). 

makeshift shrines outside the chapel

The chapel is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Sainte Ombeline.

a statue of St George in the chapel

 The chapel is indicated by signs, and is free to visit.