A desirable copy of this rare shipwreck narrative, further distinguished by being a family copy of the author. Under the signatures “Penon” and “Adolphe Penon” on the ffep is the inscription “Madame Doubeden de Rouville était notre parente.” Alas, so little is known of the author outside of this work—she isn’t mentioned by name in Charles Cochelet’s similarly-titled 1821 account—we’ve been unable to establish her full name.
Rouville set off in search of fortune, to compensate for the loss of her and her husband’s wealth after the Revolution. Her great adventure was cut short by shipwreck and was one of twenty-seven passengers onboard the Jeune Sophie who managed to escape almost certain death.
Departing from Le Havre on the 28th May 1817, they were stopped by corsairs just past the Bay of Biscay. However, the crew were exclusively targeting Spaniards, and they continued across the Atlantic. A strange smell from below deck emanated from a fire in the hold. As they struggled and failed to extinguish it, they were shocked to discover that the source was vitriol, carelessly stowed onboard. Twenty-seven crew members boarded a small lifeboat “avec la ferme persuasion que c’était entrer dans notre cercueil,” and, having seized a few provisions from the burning boat, navigated towards the nearest island, which is Trinidad (p.10).
The survivors split into two parties, some remained on the island with what has been salvaged of the shipwreck, while the rest steered the lifeboat to Rio de Janeiro. The hardiest among those left on Trinidad secured the survival of the group by climbing its great rocks to hunt boar for fur. The arrival of a friendly spaniel offered them false hope of finding its owner, and eventually they migrated to a part of the island which “nous offrirait au moins quelques ressources” (p.40). Finally, forty-one days after their arrival on Trinidad, the survivors succeeded in drawing the attention of a ship bound for Sumatra, which delivered them (and their adoptive dog) to the Cape of Good Hope. From the Western Cape they boarded a sailing ship returning to France.
Rouville concludes with the note that while her account was being published, they learned of the safe return of the passengers onboard the lifeboat: thirteen days after leaving Trinidad, they had arrived in Rio de Janeiro, “où ils reçurent de S. M. le Roi de Portugal, l’accueil le plus favorable.”
OCLC locates a single copy at Stanford.
Not in Huntress.
