While in Hong Kong after six years in office to Foochow, China, Professor Leon Rousset witnesses a terrible typhoon in the British colony. It tells the dreadful night of 22 to 23 September 1874.
Léon Rousset is a professor of science. In 1868 he was appointed to the arsenal at Foochow, newly created by the French at the request of the Chinese government. There remain six years in office, but little trip around. Its mission complete, decorated with the title of "Mandarin 4th in blue button," he decides to walk more carefully this country who are passionate about. He spends the year 1874 in this journey, bringing valuable chronic detailed accounts ... and a sincere admiration for Chinese civilization. In September 1874 he arrived in Hong Kong, the last stop before returning to Europe.
On 26 September he wrote to his father: "At a time when I write, Hong Kong is entirely desolate. A terrible typhoon, as none of the oldest inhabitants of the colony remember ever having seen it hit the night of 22 to 23. "Léon Rousset then begins the story of the drama. The passenger reported that on the morning of 22, the liner of Maritime Messaging "Ava" arrived in the port of Hong Kong with beautiful weather. His crew said he had suffered a terrible storm after Saigon, but the counting of the trunk offers enough distraction so that no one cares more. The teacher spends his day at the library and, on leaving, meeting "a fresh wind a little, but nothing [of] alarming."
few experienced sailors to seek advice safest anchorages and at 18h, the sky is covered with black clouds. The wind blows, but again, nothing unusual for the season. Expected at most to a good storm and life goes on. "But at midnight I was awakened abruptly by a extraordinary sensation: it seemed to me like a boat move. "
" A soon as I opened my eyes as the sound of gusts that blow out quickly give me the key to the phenomenon. The wind was so strong that the house was swinging on its base, giving it a sort of rolling motion. " Léon Rousset described the storm damage noises around him, rage incredible gusts. "At each of its attacks, we heard the creaking of trees were broken, debris or plaster tiles blown off the roof rolled over and went crashing into the street with a loud noise. The house, shaken to its foundations, seemed raised by the storm, want to take off [...]. Finally, the distance came a thumping sound and continuous: it was the roaring of the sea "
Leo Wears Red and stands ready to evacuate the house at the slightest sign of collapse. The hours are long. "I forgot my own concerns to think with anxiety the suffering of the unfortunate who were currently at sea or in harbor." He went into a detailed description of the sinking he imagines. At 2:30, place the most violent gusts, which broke two of the public clock dials and stop the movement. Overcome by fatigue, dark passenger 4am to 7am to emerge into a scene of desolation. "I'll never hear the wind roar without remembering that awful night."
The roads are barely passable on foot, littered with debris of all kinds. And as Leon Rousset approaches the sea, the scene empire. Shipwrecks have been made by the raging sea more than fifty meters into the streets. "The whole shoreline was once lined with a quay wall constructed of large blocks of granite, bound together by iron hooks and resting on a bed of concrete over a meter thick. Behind this wall, there was a broad platform of seven to eight meters high by about a meter and a half meters above sea level, it was called the Praya. It was bordered on the other side houses the ground floor which were arches supported by pillars of masonry such as the Rue de Rivoli [...]. Well! After the typhoon, instead of Praya, we could see more than a sloping beach, littered with huge boulders, transported to the foot of the houses are the remains of the quay wall is currently missing . The waves themselves are coming to beat the house to a height of four feet. " Here and there, the masts of sunken ships still come out of the water, hundreds of junks leak ripped their loads and rare boats, stronger, remain afloat, but in a pitiful state. "On the other side of the Praya, several houses were completely collapsed, burying their inhabitants under the rubble."
"It's a disaster for the colony, and a few days after the disaster," the spectacle of Praya was [more] scary: no one could take two steps without encountering corpses that the sea came to deposit. "The people are immediately put to work to heal the wounds of the city. The French described a sullen population, working "silently to repair the harm." The living room of the teacher ends this tragic episode.
Léon Rousset is a member of the Geographical Society of Paris on his return. He multiplied the conferences and interventions on China, even providing a course on the subject at Free School of Political Science. With his experience and his passion, he advocated a rapprochement between France and China to counter the influence English or Russian. In 1878 she published her book "Through China", a kind of summary of his travels. The influence of the author on his contemporaries was great, and his vision for a lasting mark on China inquiring minds of France, particularly a Jules Verne inspired by his descriptions and quotes in "The tribulations of a Chinese in China "(1879).
On 26 September he wrote to his father: "At a time when I write, Hong Kong is entirely desolate. A terrible typhoon, as none of the oldest inhabitants of the colony remember ever having seen it hit the night of 22 to 23. "Léon Rousset then begins the story of the drama. The passenger reported that on the morning of 22, the liner of Maritime Messaging "Ava" arrived in the port of Hong Kong with beautiful weather. His crew said he had suffered a terrible storm after Saigon, but the counting of the trunk offers enough distraction so that no one cares more. The teacher spends his day at the library and, on leaving, meeting "a fresh wind a little, but nothing [of] alarming." few experienced sailors to seek advice safest anchorages and at 18h, the sky is covered with black clouds. The wind blows, but again, nothing unusual for the season. Expected at most to a good storm and life goes on. "But at midnight I was awakened abruptly by a extraordinary sensation: it seemed to me like a boat move. "
" A soon as I opened my eyes as the sound of gusts that blow out quickly give me the key to the phenomenon. The wind was so strong that the house was swinging on its base, giving it a sort of rolling motion. " Léon Rousset described the storm damage noises around him, rage incredible gusts. "At each of its attacks, we heard the creaking of trees were broken, debris or plaster tiles blown off the roof rolled over and went crashing into the street with a loud noise. The house, shaken to its foundations, seemed raised by the storm, want to take off [...]. Finally, the distance came a thumping sound and continuous: it was the roaring of the sea "
Leo Wears Red and stands ready to evacuate the house at the slightest sign of collapse. The hours are long. "I forgot my own concerns to think with anxiety the suffering of the unfortunate who were currently at sea or in harbor." He went into a detailed description of the sinking he imagines. At 2:30, place the most violent gusts, which broke two of the public clock dials and stop the movement. Overcome by fatigue, dark passenger 4am to 7am to emerge into a scene of desolation. "I'll never hear the wind roar without remembering that awful night."
The roads are barely passable on foot, littered with debris of all kinds. And as Leon Rousset approaches the sea, the scene empire. Shipwrecks have been made by the raging sea more than fifty meters into the streets. "The whole shoreline was once lined with a quay wall constructed of large blocks of granite, bound together by iron hooks and resting on a bed of concrete over a meter thick. Behind this wall, there was a broad platform of seven to eight meters high by about a meter and a half meters above sea level, it was called the Praya. It was bordered on the other side houses the ground floor which were arches supported by pillars of masonry such as the Rue de Rivoli [...]. Well! After the typhoon, instead of Praya, we could see more than a sloping beach, littered with huge boulders, transported to the foot of the houses are the remains of the quay wall is currently missing . The waves themselves are coming to beat the house to a height of four feet. " Here and there, the masts of sunken ships still come out of the water, hundreds of junks leak ripped their loads and rare boats, stronger, remain afloat, but in a pitiful state. "On the other side of the Praya, several houses were completely collapsed, burying their inhabitants under the rubble." "It's a disaster for the colony, and a few days after the disaster," the spectacle of Praya was [more] scary: no one could take two steps without encountering corpses that the sea came to deposit. "The people are immediately put to work to heal the wounds of the city. The French described a sullen population, working "silently to repair the harm." The living room of the teacher ends this tragic episode.
Léon Rousset is a member of the Geographical Society of Paris on his return. He multiplied the conferences and interventions on China, even providing a course on the subject at Free School of Political Science. With his experience and his passion, he advocated a rapprochement between France and China to counter the influence English or Russian. In 1878 she published her book "Through China", a kind of summary of his travels. The influence of the author on his contemporaries was great, and his vision for a lasting mark on China inquiring minds of France, particularly a Jules Verne inspired by his descriptions and quotes in "The tribulations of a Chinese in China "(1879). FD.
Sources and photo credits: Leon ROUSSET, Across China, Hachette, 1878; Numa BROC, Illustrated Dictionary of French explorers of the nineteenth century, 1992.
Thanks to Mr. Yves
Azémar and his inexhaustible library of old books on Asia, 89 Hollywood Road - Hong Kong.
Thanks to Mr. Yves
Azémar and his inexhaustible library of old books on Asia, 89 Hollywood Road - Hong Kong.
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