18th C Indian Ocean Voyages

The parallel misadventures of Joséph Tréguier and Jean-François Lavigne

The misadventures of two young seafarers highlight the uncertainties and interconnectivity of life in the French East India trade. In March 1754 two French boys were hired onto two different French East India Company vessels that were set to leave Lorient on the same day: 9 March. 12-year-old Joséph Tréguier was hired as a cabin boy on the Prince de Conti, and 15-year-old Jean-François Lavigne was hired as a pilotin (junior sailor) on the Duc d'Orléans.

Somehow, the two got mixed up. It appears that Lavigne got on the Prince de Conti by mistake. At the same time, Tréguier failed to report on the Prince de Conti before it left port. Realizing his mistake, Tréguier furtively boarded Lavigne's ship, the Duc d'Orléans, and followed after his own.

The two ships crossed paths again at Madagascar. The Duc d'Orléans arrived at Foulpointe on 23 June and stayed until 27 July. The Prince de Conti was recorded at Foulpointe on 17 July, so the two ships were certainly there at the same time. While at Madagascar, Joséph Tréguier corrected his error, and transferred back onto the Prince de Conti and stayed on it for the remainder of its voyage. Lavigne, however, stayed on the wrong ship. Both ships then carried on to Pondichèry. Here, finally, Lavigne disembarked from the Prince de Conti.

There is no clear record of Lavigne leaving Pondichéry. Interestingly, however, there is a slim possibility that he ended up on the Duc d'Orléans after all. A few weeks after Lavigne disembarked from the Prince de Conti at Pondichéry, the Duc d'Orléans arrived at the same port. The Governor General of French India, Joséph François, marquis Dupleix, then boarded the Duc d'Orléans for his return to Europe. (In the midst of ongoing clashes with the British, Dupleix had been replaced after serving in the role for twelve years. This transition marked the end of French expansion in India). For his return voyage, Dupleix took along an entourage of seventeen servants, slaves and other attendants, including a guard named La Vigne (n° 717). Is it possible that Dupleix hired the young Lavigne and arranged for his return to Europe? Whether or not it was the same Lavigne, he showed the same penchant for drifting. The Duc d'Orléans stopped at Île Bourbon on its way back to France, but when Dupleix and the rest of his entourage carried on, La Vigne stayed behind. Four months later, he ended up boarding another ship, the Bourbon, and returning to Pondichéry.

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