Port-Christmas
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Port-Christmas is a natural and historical site on the
Kerguelen Islands The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the subantarctic, sub-Antarctic region. They are among the Extremes on Earth#Remoteness, most i ...
, located at the northern tip of the main island, on the east coast of the Loranchet Peninsula. It covers the bottom of ''
Baie de l'Oiseau Baie de l'Oiseau (Bird Bay) is a natural harbour in the Loranchet Peninsula, in the North-Western part of the island Grande Terre, part of the Kerguelen Islands. It was the landing site of the expedition under Yves de Kerguelen in 1772, and ...
'', the first shelter for sailors approaching the archipelago from the north, and is easily identifiable by the presence at the entrance of a natural arch, now collapsed, known as the
Kerguelen Arch The Kerguelen Arch is a former natural arch on the island of Grande Terre in the Kerguelen Islands of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, an archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean. Although the arch collapsed sometime between 1908 and 1913, ...
. It was here, in 1774, that the explorer Yves Joseph de Kerguelen de Trémarec took possession of the island on behalf of
King Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...
of France. However, the name of the island, Christmas Harbour, was given by
James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...
, whose ships anchored in the bay on Christmas Day back in 1776, during his third circumnavigation. The name appears in some French translations or fictional works such as le Havre de Noël or Port-Noël. Considered to be a safe haven, in the 19th century it regularly welcomed the ships of seal and whale hunters, mainly from
Nantucket Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...
, who scoured the southern seas and islands. The site is also occasionally used as a research station for geomagnetism investigations. Descriptions of these landscapes by explorers in their travelogues inspired great writers, starting with
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...
(1838), followed by
Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...
(1897), who incorporated them into their adventure novels, then
Valery Larbaud Valery Larbaud (29 August 1881 – 2 February 1957) was a French writer and poet. Life He was born in Vichy, the only child of a pharmacist Nicolas Larbaud and Isabelle Bureau des Étivaux. His father died when he was 8, and he was brought up ...
(1933) and Jean-Paul Kaufmann (1993), among others, in their more personal works.


Toponymy

The name "Port-Christmas" was established by
Raymond Rallier du Baty Raymond Rallier du Baty (30 August 1881 – 7 May 1978) was a French sailor and Exploration, explorer, from Lorient in Brittany, who carried out surveys of the subantarctic Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian Ocean in the early 20th century. ...
in 1908 to designate the most isolated part of
Baie de l'Oiseau Baie de l'Oiseau (Bird Bay) is a natural harbour in the Loranchet Peninsula, in the North-Western part of the island Grande Terre, part of the Kerguelen Islands. It was the landing site of the expedition under Yves de Kerguelen in 1772, and ...
, as shown on the 1⁄228000 map published in 1922.Jean-René Vanney, ''Histoire des mers australes,'' Paris, Fayard editions, 1986, 737 p. () The ''Commission territoriale de toponymie des Terres australes françaises'' ( TAAF Territorial Commission) upheld this designation when the 1⁄100000 IGN map was published in 1973. It also extended the name to the area between the beach and Lake Rochegude, location to a secondary scientific station. This now-official toponymy puts an end to almost two centuries of debate between the name given to the whole bay by Kerguelen, "''
Baie de l'Oiseau Baie de l'Oiseau (Bird Bay) is a natural harbour in the Loranchet Peninsula, in the North-Western part of the island Grande Terre, part of the Kerguelen Islands. It was the landing site of the expedition under Yves de Kerguelen in 1772, and ...
''", and the one chosen by Cook, "''Christmas Harbour''". Indeed, during his second expedition, Yves Joseph de Kerguelen de Trémarec called this bay after ''L'Oiseau'', the frigate he sent there in January 1774 to do reconnaissance. Almost three years later, on December 25, 1776, the ships HMS ''Resolution'' and HMS ''Discovery'' anchored in the same location. Captain Cook, in command of the expedition, was well aware of the French navigator's earlier discovery, but was not yet aware of the details, nor that the bay had already been named.Gracie Delépine (pref. Christian Dors, senior administrator of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands), ''Les îles australes françaises : Kerguelen, Crozet, Amsterdam, Saint-Paul'', Rennes, Éditions Ouest-France, October 1995, 213 p. (ISBN 2-7373-1889-0, chap. II ("Geography, landscapes"), pp. 31 and 37. He decided to celebrate the holiday's festivities by giving this "Christmas haven" the English name of ''Christmas Harbour''.(en) James Cook, ''The Three Voyages of Captain James Cook Round the World'', vol. 5 : ''being the first of the third voyage'', Londres, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, et Brown, 1821
read onlinearchive
), chap. IV, p. 146–151
The predominantly Anglo-American presence of the archipelago in the 19th century, along with its literature, favored the use of the latter name. However, when France decided to reaffirm its sovereignty by sending the French aviso ship ''l'Eure'' in 1893 to perform a new take-over ceremony, ''
Baie de l'Oiseau Baie de l'Oiseau (Bird Bay) is a natural harbour in the Loranchet Peninsula, in the North-Western part of the island Grande Terre, part of the Kerguelen Islands. It was the landing site of the expedition under Yves de Kerguelen in 1772, and ...
'' formally reverted to its original name. In the end, the current consensus, instituted by Rallier du Baty, which "semi- francizes" Christmas Harbour as Port-Christmas and reserves its denominations for a particular area of
Baie de l'Oiseau Baie de l'Oiseau (Bird Bay) is a natural harbour in the Loranchet Peninsula, in the North-Western part of the island Grande Terre, part of the Kerguelen Islands. It was the landing site of the expedition under Yves de Kerguelen in 1772, and ...
, allows us to respect Kerguelen's former discovery while preserving the historical trace of Cook's passage.


Geography


Location

From the permanent base at
Port-aux-Français Port-aux-Français () is the main settlement of the Kerguelen Islands, and French Southern and Antarctic Lands, in the south Indian Ocean. Occupancy The settlement is located on the shore of the Gulf of Morbihan. About 45 residents spend wint ...
, located 115 km to the southeast, Port-Christmas is one of the most isolated and inaccessible areas of the archipelago.Jean-Paul Kauffmann, ''L'Arche des Kerguelen : Voyage aux Îles de la Désolation'', Paris, Flammarion editions, 1993, 249 p. (ISBN 2-08-066621-5) Given its distance and, in particular, its mountainous topography, the site is almost never reached by land. It can, however, be reached by sea after sailing at least 100
nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude at t ...
s (190 km). ''
Baie de l'Oiseau Baie de l'Oiseau (Bird Bay) is a natural harbour in the Loranchet Peninsula, in the North-Western part of the island Grande Terre, part of the Kerguelen Islands. It was the landing site of the expedition under Yves de Kerguelen in 1772, and ...
'', at the base of which the site is located, forms the first indentation at the northeastern end of the Loranchet peninsula. The bay is closed off to the north by the Cap-Haïtien, Cape-Haïtien and to the south by
Kerguelen Arch The Kerguelen Arch is a former natural arch on the island of Grande Terre in the Kerguelen Islands of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, an archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean. Although the arch collapsed sometime between 1908 and 1913, ...
. Port-Christmas is towered over by Table de l'Oiseau (403 m) to the north and Mount Havergal (552 m) to the south.Amicale des missions australes et polaires françaises (AMAEPF), Zoom on IGN map 80354 of the Kerguelen Islands, Port-Christmas. While most of the bay's shores are rocky and often steep, the bottom is occupied by a 350-meter-long black sand beach, formed by the
erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...
of the surrounding
basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
rocks.(en) James Clark Ross, ''A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions – During the Years 1839–43'', vol. 1, London, John Murray, 1847
lire en lignearchive
)
Here, a stream flows into the sea, after collecting both stormwaters from Mount Havergal and
drainage tunnel A drainage tunnel, called an emissary in ancient contexts, is a tunnel or channel created to drain water, often from a stagnant or variable-depth body of water. It typically leads to a lower stream or river, or to a location where a pumping stati ...
waters from Lake ''Rochegude''. This lake, located approximately 500 m from the shore at an altitude of 40 m, marks the barrier separating Port-Christmas from ''Baie Ducheyron'' to the west.Carte de reconnaissance des îles Kerguelen – feuille nord-estarchive
The anchorage at Port-Christmas is 11 meters deep (6
fathom A fathom is a unit of length in the imperial and the U.S. customary systems equal to , used especially for measuring the depth of water. The fathom is neither an international standard (SI) unit, nor an internationally accepted non-SI unit. H ...
s). It offers a relatively safe haven"Christmas-Harbour", in ''Dictionnaire géographique universel'', A. J. Kilian and Ch. Piquet, 1826
read onlinearchive
), p. 22
for sailors who frequent this particularly turbulent part of the ocean caused by the
Roaring Forties The Roaring Forties are strong westerlies, westerly winds that occur in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40th parallel south, 40° and 50th parallel south, 50° south. The strong eastward air currents are caused by ...
.


Geology

The geological environment of Port-Christmas, like that of practically the entire Loranchet Peninsula, is dominated by trap-rocks,
terraced A terrace in agriculture is a flat surface that has been cut into hills or mountains to provide areas for the cultivation for crops, as a method of more effective farming. Terrace agriculture or cultivation is when these platforms are created s ...
basaltic piles formed by the superimposition of lava outpourings around twenty-eight to twenty-nine million years ago. At various points in the bay, between the hard stratum, a few small
coal seams Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extra ...
emerge. British explorer
James Clark Ross Sir James Clark Ross (15 April 1800 – 3 April 1862) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer of both the northern and southern polar regions. In the Arctic, he participated in two expeditions led by his uncle, Sir John Ross, John ...
noted this as early as 1840. He also noted the presence of fossilized trees, the first of their kind to be spotted in the archipelago. These
petrified wood Petrified wood (from Ancient Greek meaning 'rock' or 'stone'; literally 'wood turned into stone'), is the name given to a special type of ''fossilized wood'', the fossilized remains of terrestrial plant, terrestrial vegetation. ''Petrifaction ...
s, or simply
lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest ...
s, found at Port-Christmas and Mount Havergal, mainly belong to the
conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...
tree families known as ''
Araucariaceae Araucariaceae is a Family (biology), family of conifers with three living Genus, genera, ''Araucaria'', ''Agathis'', and ''Wollemia''. While the family's native distribution is now largely confined to the Southern Hemisphere, except for a few spe ...
'' and ''
Cupressaceae Cupressaceae or the cypress family is a family of conifers. The family includes 27–30 genera (17 monotypic), which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdioecious or (rarely) dioecio ...
'', more specifically the ''
Araucarites ''Araucarites'' is an extinct genus of conifer, used to refer to female conifer cones that resemble those of the family Araucariaceae. Species assigned to the genus lived in the Permian to Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology) ...
'', ''Cupressinoxylon'', and ''Cupressoxylon''
genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...
, which are similar to those found today in the southernmost regions of the Southern Hemisphere. They bear witness to widespread ancient vegetation and past climates that were milder, or at least did not undergo intense glacial periods.


Highlights

From Port-Christmas, the sight of the pillars of the
Kerguelen Arch The Kerguelen Arch is a former natural arch on the island of Grande Terre in the Kerguelen Islands of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, an archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean. Although the arch collapsed sometime between 1908 and 1913, ...
is a must. As soon as the archipelago was discovered, Kerguelen mentioned the imposing rocky arch located at the tip of the southern rim at the entrance to ''
Baie de l'Oiseau Baie de l'Oiseau (Bird Bay) is a natural harbour in the Loranchet Peninsula, in the North-Western part of the island Grande Terre, part of the Kerguelen Islands. It was the landing site of the expedition under Yves de Kerguelen in 1772, and ...
''. It rises to over 100 meters. Named "''le Portail''" by Kerguelen, then "''Arched-Rock''" by James Cook, the arch collapsed between 1908 and 1913, leaving only its two basalt columns standing. Port-Christmas also has the geographical distinction of being one of the only land-based
antipodes In geography, the antipode () of any spot on Earth is the point on Earth's surface diametrically opposite to it. A pair of points ''antipodal'' () to each other are situated such that a straight line connecting the two would pass through Ea ...
with the United States territory. It corresponds to Kevin, a township in Toole County, in the state of
Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
, near the border with Canada.


Natural environment

When the first navigators landed in the archipelago, they were struck by the abundance of a rich variety of birds. On the Port-Christmas shore itself, Kerguelen's
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
s, like James Cook, noted the presence of "penguins".Yves Joseph de Kerguelen de Trémarec, ''Relation de deux voyages dans les mers australes et des Indes, faits en 1771, 1772, 1773 et 1774, par M. de Kerguelen'', Paris, Chez Knapen & sons, 1782, 247 p., In-8°
read onlinearchive
), p. 21-83.
A nesting colony of
king penguin The king penguin (''Aptenodytes patagonicus'') is the second largest species of penguin, smaller than but somewhat similar in appearance to the emperor penguin. King penguins mainly eat lanternfish, squid, and krill. On foraging trips, king pen ...
s is still found there today, one of the smallest on Kerguelen with just forty breeders.Réserve naturelle nationale des Terres australes françaises
downloadable document from the World Heritage websitearchive
), ''Volet A du plan de gestion 2011–2015: diagnostic de la réserve'', October 12th, 2010, 2058 p., p. 353.
Elephant seal Elephant seals or sea elephants are very large, oceangoing earless seals in the genus ''Mirounga''. Both species, the northern elephant seal (''M. angustirostris'') and the southern elephant seal (''M. leonina''), were hunted to the brink of ...
s, known at the time as "''sea lions''", also frequent the beach. Fishing, on the other hand, was disappointing as the net Cook had thrown into the sea brought back only half a dozen fish. Recent samples show that the fish in the area belong to the ''
Channichthyidae The crocodile icefish or white-blooded fish comprise a family (biology), family (Channichthyidae) of notothenioid fishes, fish found in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. They are the only known vertebrates to lack hemoglobin in their blood as ...
'' family, or sometimes to the species '' Zanclorhynchus spinifer'', the Antarctic horsefish, of the ''
Congiopodidae Congiopodidae, commonly known as pigfishes, horsefishes and racehorses, is a family of ray-finned fish classified with in the order Perciformes. These fishes are native to the Southern Hemisphere. Taxonomy Congiopodidae was first formally recog ...
'' family. The beach drop-offs at Port-Christmas are notable for their abundance of soft corals (''Onogorgia nodosa''), and the giant
seaweed Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of ''Rhodophyta'' (red), '' Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ...
''
Macrocystis pyrifera ''Macrocystis'' is a monospecific genus of kelp (large brown algae) with all species now synonymous with ''Macrocystis pyrifera''. It is commonly known as giant kelp or bladder kelp. This genus contains the largest of all the Phaeophyceae or br ...
'' forms dense
seagrass meadow A seagrass meadow or seagrass bed is an underwater ecosystem formed by seagrasses. Seagrasses are marine (saltwater) plants found in shallow coastal waters and in the brackish waters of estuaries. Seagrasses are flowering plants with stems and ...
. Conversely, terrestrial vegetation is poorly developed. While early records describe a verdant, albeit short and treeless, coastal landscape covered with grasses (''
Gramineae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated i ...
''), ''
azorella ''Azorella'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apiaceae, native to South America, New Zealand, southeastern Australia, and the islands of the Southern Ocean. They are low-growing dwarf mat-forming plants growing in high exposure on mo ...
'', and
Kerguelen cabbage ''Pringlea antiscorbutica'', commonly known as Kerguelen cabbage, is a flowering plant and the sole member of the monotypic genus ''Pringlea'' in the family (biology), family Brassicaceae. Its common name comes from the archipelago of its discove ...
, the colonization of the entire main island by rabbits has since led to a considerable weakening of plant formations, which are often reduced to a meager meadow of ''
Acaena magellanica ''Acaena magellanica'', commonly called buzzy burr or greater burnet, is a species of flowering plant whose range includes the southern tip of South America and many subantarctic islands. Description ''Acaena magellanica'' is a perennial, mat-fo ...
''. Generally speaking, the fauna and flora are in accordance with that to be found in ''
Baie de l'Oiseau Baie de l'Oiseau (Bird Bay) is a natural harbour in the Loranchet Peninsula, in the North-Western part of the island Grande Terre, part of the Kerguelen Islands. It was the landing site of the expedition under Yves de Kerguelen in 1772, and ...
'' and more widely on the main island of the archipelago, known as ''La Grande Terre''.The entire Port-Christmas area is part of the ''Réserve naturelle nationale des Terres australes françaises'', which, since 2019, has been classified as World Heritage under the name of "
French Southern and Antarctic Lands The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (, TAAF) is an overseas territory ( or ) of France. It consists of: * Adélie Land (), the French claim on the continent of Antarctica. * Crozet Islands (), a group in the southern Indian Ocean, south ...
". Like the majority of the archipelago, its terrestrial sector benefits from the "classic" protection regime. The area is closed to the introduction of any new animal or plant, any disturbance of living communities, any industrial, commercial or mining activity, and any biological or mineral extraction, with the exception of rare exemptions that may be granted by the Reserve's management or for scientific research purposes. Access to the site is possible, but is regulated and subject to authorization.Decree n° 2006-1211 of October 3rd, 2006 creating the ''réserve naturelle des Terres australes françaises''
modified by decree n° 2016-1700 of December 12th, 201
archive
The marine section, like all the territorial waters of the
Kerguelen Islands The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the subantarctic, sub-Antarctic region. They are among the Extremes on Earth#Remoteness, most i ...
, is included in the "''zone de protection renforcée marine''". Any disturbance of the natural environment is prohibited, except for scientific activities duly approved by the authorities. All professional and
recreational fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is occupational fishing activities done for profit; or subsistence fishing, ...
is prohibited, with no exceptions.


History

The first sighting of the islands dates back to the second expedition of Yves Joseph de Kerguelen de Trémarec, aboard the ''Roland'', a 64-cannon vessel, with an escort of two smaller ships, ''l'Oiseau'' and ''la Dauphine''. The expedition reached the coast of ''Grand-Terre'' icon December 14, 1773, but adverse weather conditions prevented them from disembarking. During the few days ''la Dauphine'' was separated from the group, Ferron du Quengo, commander of the
Corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...
, spotted the entrance to a bay around December 20th, 1773, but was unable to gain entry. On December 25, 1773, Kerguelen delegated to ''l'Oiseau'' and ''la Dauphine'' the task of trying to land there. The commander of ''l'Oiseau'', Monsieur de Rosnevet, mapped out the bay and named it ''
Baie de l'Oiseau Baie de l'Oiseau (Bird Bay) is a natural harbour in the Loranchet Peninsula, in the North-Western part of the island Grande Terre, part of the Kerguelen Islands. It was the landing site of the expedition under Yves de Kerguelen in 1772, and ...
'', after his frigate. But it wasn't until January 6th, 1774, that he managed to send his lieutenant Henri Pascal de Rochegude ashore in a longboat. The latter attached a bottle to a prominent rock, containing a formal takeover statement:
« ''Ludovico XV. galliarum rege, et d. de Boynes regi a Secretis ad res maritimas annis 1772 et 1773.'' »
The fact that the years 1772 and 1773 are mentioned, even though the official
parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared Tanning (leather), untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves and goats. It has been used as a writing medium in West Asia and Europe for more than two millennia. By AD 400 ...
was not issued until 1774, means that the land had already been discovered and that this formal takeover merely reiterated the first expedition by Kerguelen, who was led by Lieutenant Charles-Marc du Boisguéhenneuc on February 14, 1772, to "''Baie du Lion-Marin''" (now known as ''Anse du Gros Ventre''), forty leagues to the south. James Cook, who stopped off in the archipelago on his " third voyage", dropped the anchors of his ships
Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...
and Resolution on Christmas Day, 1776. He called the place Christmas Harbour and realized the previous presence of the French when he found the message they had left. He added a mention of his own berthing and a vintage silver coin, relocating the bottle under a
cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...
. The British explorer notes the optimal anchorage and water provisioning conditions. The ship's surgeon, William Anderson, noted both the presence of
Kerguelen cabbage ''Pringlea antiscorbutica'', commonly known as Kerguelen cabbage, is a flowering plant and the sole member of the monotypic genus ''Pringlea'' in the family (biology), family Brassicaceae. Its common name comes from the archipelago of its discove ...
(''Pringlea antiscorbutica''), which could be used to combat the
scurvy Scurvy is a deficiency disease (state of malnutrition) resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum d ...
often suffered by crews on long voyages, and the abundance of "''oil resources''".Gracie Delépine, ''Histoires extraordinaires et inconnues dans les mers australes'', Ouest-France, coll. "Écrits", 2002, 230 p. (ISBN 2-7373-2961-2) It was also from Christmas Harbour that Cook thought of naming the archipelago the "Islands of Desolation", before paying tribute to his first French discoverer by naming them after himself, albeit somewhat mischievously:
''« I would have called them the Islands of Desolation, if I didn't want to deprive Monsieur de Kerguelen the honor of giving them his name. »''
The expedition set off again on December 31 to explore the surrounding eastern coasts all the way to the present-day Gulf of Morbihan, which James Cook named "''Royal Sound''". It only took a few years for the previously untouched Desolation Islands to become a coveted land. The first expedition to hunt marine mammals by American ships from the island of
Nantucket Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...
was documented as early as 1792. The interest of the Americans in undertaking campaigns in the southern seas was even greater, considering that the British had forbidden them to hunt in the northern hemisphere. Christmas Harbour, with its safe anchorage, became a popular stopover throughout the nineteenth century, as it was easy to reach, even if it didn't offer the best shelter in poor weather. In the early 1820s, American explorer and sealing captain
Benjamin Morrell Benjamin Morrell (July 5, 1795 – ) was an American sea captain, explorer and trader who made a number of voyages, mainly to the Atlantic, the Southern Ocean and the Pacific Islands. In a ghost-written memoir, ''A Narrative of Four Voyages'' ...
(1795–1839) made it his main anchorage. The Kerguelen archipelago was frequented by whalers and sealers until 1909 (with a highpoint between 1840 and 1870). In 1840, British explorer
James Clark Ross Sir James Clark Ross (15 April 1800 – 3 April 1862) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer of both the northern and southern polar regions. In the Arctic, he participated in two expeditions led by his uncle, Sir John Ross, John ...
anchored at Port-Christmas for 68 days, between May and July, as part of a major scientific expedition around the world and towards the poles, with the primary objective of studying geomagnetism. Two temporary observatories were built at the far end of the bay, one dedicated to astronomical observations, and the other to the study of terrestrial magnetism. Every day, at a fixed time, regardless of the weather, magnetism readings were taken simultaneously with a complementary station located almost antipodally in Toronto, Canada.''Histoire des Observatoires magnétiques de l'EOST'
archive
on the École et observatoire des sciences de la Terre website.
Ross's mission brief included a long series of other physical observations to be carried out:
meteorological Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agriculture ...
,
oceanographic Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...
, hydrographic, as well as a naturalistic component to which the expedition's surgeons, Robert McCormick,
Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For 20 years he served as director of the Ro ...
and
David Lyall David Lyall (1817–1895) MD, RN, FLS, was a Scottish botanist who explored Antarctica, New Zealand, the Arctic and North America and was a lifelong friend of Sir Joseph Hooker. He was born in Auchenblae, Kincardineshire, Scotland on 1 June 181 ...
, made a major contribution by exploring from Christmas Harbour. Since its discovery, despite numerous visits, the islands have never been permanently inhabited, particularly by the French, which exposes them to the possibility of dispossession by other countries. Around 1890, England and Australia began to lay claim to the Kerguelens. Consequently, at the suggestion of the Boissière brothers, President Sadi Carnot decided to send the
Eure Eure ( ; ; or ) is a department in the administrative region of Normandy, northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2021, Eure had a population of 598,934.Louis Édouard Paul Lieutard Louis Édouard Paul Lieutard ( Brignoles, 21 June 1842 — 23 October 1902) was a French Navy officer. He notably set a formal claim for France on the Kerguelen Islands in 1893. Mont Lieutard was named in his honour. Biography Lieutard join ...
(1842–1902) , to solemnly repossess the Austral Islands on behalf of France. The mission took place in the Kerguelen archipelago from January 1 to 15 1893, before moving on to Saint Paul Island and
Amsterdam Island Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the urban area and 2,480,394 in the metropolitan area. Located in the Dut ...
. On New Year's Day 1893, the
Eure Eure ( ; ; or ) is a department in the administrative region of Normandy, northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2021, Eure had a population of 598,934.Francis Allyn, an American seal-hunting
schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...
under Captain Joseph J. Fuller, happened to be. The French military, reiterating the takeover made 120 years earlier on the same spot, proceeded ashore to raise the colors on the mast and affix a copper plaque engraved "EURE – 1893". Twenty-one cannon shots were fired. Over the following fifteen days, the same operations were repeated at various points around the archipelago. The territory was now ready for the arrival of settlers. Six months later, Henry and René-Émile Bossière obtained an exclusive 50-year concession over the entire French Southern Territories. Returning from an
oceanographic Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...
expedition to the outskirts of
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
, German marine biologist
Carl Chun Carl Chun or Karl Friedrich Gustav Chun (1 October 1852 – 11 April 1914) was a German marine biologist who worked as a professor at the Universities of Königsberg (1883), Breslau (1891) and Leipzig (1898). He was a pioneer of German oceanogr ...
arrived in Port-Christmas aboard the Valdivia in 1898, where he declared himself fascinated by the "''romanesque''" character of the place. On March 9, 1908,
Raymond Rallier du Baty Raymond Rallier du Baty (30 August 1881 – 7 May 1978) was a French sailor and Exploration, explorer, from Lorient in Brittany, who carried out surveys of the subantarctic Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian Ocean in the early 20th century. ...
and his brother Henri anchored their ketch, the J.B. Charcot, before embarking on a methodical exploration of the archipelago. To own a territory, it is essential to be fully acquainted with it and to officially designate its remarkable landmarks, especially with the economic development of Kerguelen in mind. To this effect, the du Baty brothers received moral and financial support from the ''
Société de Géographie The Société de Géographie (; ), is the world's oldest geographical society. It was founded in 1821 as the first Geographic Society. Since 1878, its headquarters have been at 184 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris. The entrance is marked by two gig ...
'' to carry out their reconnaissance and mapping work.Raymond Rallier du Baty (trans. from English by Renaud Delcourt, pref. Benoît Heimermann), ''On peut aller loin avec des cœurs volontaires: Aventures aux Kerguelen'' riginally written in English as "15,000 Miles in a Ketch" Paris, Le Livre de poche, coll. "La lettre et la plume", May 2nd 2012 (1st ed. 1917), 288 p. (ISBN 978-2-253-16365-7
online presentationarchive
)
During the 20th century, Port-Christmas was occasionally used as a site for scientific studies, but its remoteness was an obstacle to continuous monitoring. During the
International Geophysical Year The International Geophysical Year (IGY; ), also referred to as the third International Polar Year, was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War w ...
in 1957 and 1958,
Port-aux-Français Port-aux-Français () is the main settlement of the Kerguelen Islands, and French Southern and Antarctic Lands, in the south Indian Ocean. Occupancy The settlement is located on the shore of the Gulf of Morbihan. About 45 residents spend wint ...
was chosen as the site for a permanent magnetic repeat station. In December 1964, the replacement ship, the ''Gallieni'', brought a team to
Port-aux-Français Port-aux-Français () is the main settlement of the Kerguelen Islands, and French Southern and Antarctic Lands, in the south Indian Ocean. Occupancy The settlement is located on the shore of the Gulf of Morbihan. About 45 residents spend wint ...
to carry out
tellurometer The tellurometer was the first successful microwave electronic distance measurement equipment. The name derives from the Latin ''tellus'', meaning Earth. History The original tellurometer, known as the Micro-Distancer MRA 1, was introduced in ...
measurements and helicopter overflights to produce a general map of the archipelago. This team set up camp in virtually the same location as Ross had chosen in 1840. Two Ferdinand Fillod-type metal cabins were erected in the hope of providing a permanent secondary station. For several years, they were used as shelters for scientific teams during southern summer, but were eventually abandoned and destroyed, and no longer appear on the TAAF or
IPEV The French Polar Institute Paul-Émile Victor (, IPEV) is the organization leading the French National Antarctic Program since 1992. Based in Plouzané, Finistère, it operates the Dumont d'Urville Station and jointly operates the Concordia St ...
cabin lists. Given its historic character, the Port-Christmas site is one of several whose artifacts will be inventoried under the 2018–2027 Management Plan from the ''Réserve naturelle nationale des Terres australes françaises''.


Literature

Numerous writers, mainly novelists, have made mention of this place. In 1838, the American writer
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...
was the first to publish "''
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket ''The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket'', written and published in 1838, is the only complete novel by the American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The novel is set between 1827 and 1828 and relates the tale of the young Arthur Gordon Pym, wh ...
''", translated into French in 1858 by
Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics ...
under the title ''Aventures d'Arthur Gordon Pym''. In it, he describes the nearly one-month stay on Christmas Harbour in 1827 by the crew of the Jane Guy vessel, who rescued the two main protagonists. Poe accurately describes the natural harbor and the typical arch, sometimes repeating almost verbatim the description given by seal-hunting captain
Benjamin Morrell Benjamin Morrell (July 5, 1795 – ) was an American sea captain, explorer and trader who made a number of voyages, mainly to the Atlantic, the Southern Ocean and the Pacific Islands. In a ghost-written memoir, ''A Narrative of Four Voyages'' ...
in ''A Narrative of Four Voyages'', published in 1832. In particular, the protagonist Arthur Pym cites Wasp Harbour, a toponym that only Morrell uses to designate his usual anchorage, which resembles Port-Christmas but whose description is too imprecise to be sure.
Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...
, using Poe's novel as a theme and plot for his own, sets the first three chapters of ''
An Antarctic Mystery ''An Antarctic Mystery'' (, ''The Sphinx of the Ice Fields'') is a two-volume novel by Jules Verne. Written and published in 1897, it is a continuation of Edgar Allan Poe's 1838 novel ''The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket''. It follo ...
'' (1897) set in the Desolation Islands, where his hero, the American mineralogist Joerling, spends from June to August 1839 in Christmas Harbour, before sailing south on the
schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...
Halbrane. Without ever having been there, the French novelist gives a precise geographical description and establishes a fictitious cosmopolitan settlement of around twenty inhabitants centered around Fenimore Atkins, the proprietor of the ''Au Cormoran-Vert'' inn, living off the seasonal staging of English and American sealers and whalers. The two 19th-century novelists anchored Port-Christmas in the collective imagination as one of the gateways to the Deep South, the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic continent. Navigator and travel writer
Raymond Rallier du Baty Raymond Rallier du Baty (30 August 1881 – 7 May 1978) was a French sailor and Exploration, explorer, from Lorient in Brittany, who carried out surveys of the subantarctic Kerguelen Islands in the southern Indian Ocean in the early 20th century. ...
docked at Port-Christmas in 1908 to map the archipelago and wrote a literary description in his story ''On peut aller loin avec des cœurs volontaires''. In 1933, novelist and poet
Valery Larbaud Valery Larbaud (29 August 1881 – 2 February 1957) was a French writer and poet. Life He was born in Vichy, the only child of a pharmacist Nicolas Larbaud and Isabelle Bureau des Étivaux. His father died when he was 8, and he was brought up ...
published ''Le gouverneur de Kerguelen'' (The Governor of Kerguelen), a short story that uses a disciplinary transfer to Port-Noël as a pretext to initiate the game of "ten essential books that one would take to a desert island" and establish a library. He humorously proposes the following rules:
"... 'You have had the misfortune to displease those in high places; but in deference to your merits, we have contented ourselves with distancing you by appointing you for one ... three ... five years (that's a maximum) Governor of (sic) Kerguelen, with residence at Port-Noël, the main town of this colony. ..You will only be able to take with you one... five... ten... twenty books, on condition that they are chosen by you from...'. Here, all suppositions are allowed..." – Valery Larbaud, 1933.
This little game is also the occasion for correspondence between Larbaud and the Dutch literary scholar Edgar du Perron, who proposes and discusses his own choices.
Edgar Aubert de la Rüe Edgar Aubert de la Rüe (1901–1991) was a French geographer, geologist, traveller and photographer who was primarily devoted to the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Kerguelen Islands, Kerguelen, and Vanuatu. Mount Aubert de la Rue on Heard ...
, who visited the archipelago four times between 1928 and 1953 to carry out various
geographical Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
and geological studies, spending many months there in total, mentions Port-Christmas in his brief novel ''Deux ans aux Îles de la Désolation'' (1954). In 1993, journalist and writer
Jean-Paul Kauffmann Jean-Paul Kauffmann (born 8 August 1944 in Saint-Pierre-la-Cour, Mayenne) is a French journalist and writer, a former student of the École supérieure de journalisme de Lille (40th class). Biography His great-grandfather Michel Kauffmann lef ...
, in his story ''L'Arche des Kerguelen'', made Port-Christmas the ultimate goal of a personal quest he undertook in the Kerguelen archipelago a few years after his release from three years' captivity as a hostage in
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
. His entire book – which retells the history of the Kerguelen archipelago, its explorers and residents, as well as the details of his own several-week stay – focuses on reaching this mythical place, one of the most isolated in the archipelago and even one of the most inaccessible on Earth, which he never managed to reach despite various attempts by boat, on foot and by helicopter. French sailor
Isabelle Autissier Isabelle Autissier (born 18 October 1956) is a French sailor, navigator, writer, and broadcaster. She is celebrated for being the first woman to have completed a solo world navigation in competition (Velux 5 Oceans Race#The BOC Challenge 1990-9 ...
, after a
dismasting Dismasting, also called demasting, occurs to a sailing ship when one or more of the mast (sailing), masts responsible for hoisting the sails that propel the vessel breaks. Dismasting usually occurs as the result of high winds during a storm act ...
in 1994 that forced her to make reparations in
Port-aux-Français Port-aux-Français () is the main settlement of the Kerguelen Islands, and French Southern and Antarctic Lands, in the south Indian Ocean. Occupancy The settlement is located on the shore of the Gulf of Morbihan. About 45 residents spend wint ...
, published a literary biography in 2006, ''Kerguelen, le voyageur du pays de l'ombre'', in which she describes in detail the arrival of the crew of ''L'Oiseau'' in the homonymous bay in January 1774, and the onshore takeover led by ''Messieurs de Rochegude'' and ''du Cheyron'', based on available historical data (diaries and accounts) and her own experience of the site. She gives the following description:
"Beyond the beach, they waded through a grassy swamp and climbed a mound. ..No trees, no flowers, in the heart of that summer brightened by austerity. The sparse greenery was covered in patches of old snow. The overall atmosphere was sad and cold. Grandiose indeed, but in the manner of a funerary monument when the shine of smooth marble evokes eternity... " – Isabelle Autissier, 2006.


Philately

At least five TAAF stamps featuring the Port-Christmas location or its immediate surroundings were issued,
L'Arche Des Kerguelen
'

on the website
www.timbresponts.fr
''
the first three engraved by Pierre Béquet : * 1976:
face value The face value, sometimes called nominal value, is the value of a coin, bond, stamp or paper money as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the issuing authority. The face value of coins, stamps, or bill is usually its legal value. Ho ...
of 3.50
franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century ...
s, commemorating the bicentenary of Cook's arrival in 1776 with a reproduction of the landing scene engraved in 1784 by
John Webber John Webber (6 October 1751 – 29 May 1793) was an English artist who accompanied Captain Cook on his third Pacific expedition. He is best known for his images of Australasia, Hawaii and Alaska. Biography Webber was born in London, educated ...
; * 1979:
face value The face value, sometimes called nominal value, is the value of a coin, bond, stamp or paper money as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the issuing authority. The face value of coins, stamps, or bill is usually its legal value. Ho ...
2.70
franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century ...
s, illustrating the arrival of explorer Ross at Christmas Harbour in 1840, with a reproduction of Samuel Williams' engraving of the HMS ''Terror'' passing in front of the
Kerguelen Arch The Kerguelen Arch is a former natural arch on the island of Grande Terre in the Kerguelen Islands of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, an archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean. Although the arch collapsed sometime between 1908 and 1913, ...
(Arched Rock); * 1997:
face value The face value, sometimes called nominal value, is the value of a coin, bond, stamp or paper money as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the issuing authority. The face value of coins, stamps, or bill is usually its legal value. Ho ...
of 24
franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century ...
s, celebrating the bicentenary of
Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...
Kerguelen's death, with a depiction of "''Le Hâvre'' ic''de Noël''", one of the French copies of
John Webber John Webber (6 October 1751 – 29 May 1793) was an English artist who accompanied Captain Cook on his third Pacific expedition. He is best known for his images of Australasia, Hawaii and Alaska. Biography Webber was born in London, educated ...
's engraving; * 2001:
face value The face value, sometimes called nominal value, is the value of a coin, bond, stamp or paper money as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the issuing authority. The face value of coins, stamps, or bill is usually its legal value. Ho ...
of 3
euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
s, depicting an actual view of the
Kerguelen Arch The Kerguelen Arch is a former natural arch on the island of Grande Terre in the Kerguelen Islands of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, an archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean. Although the arch collapsed sometime between 1908 and 1913, ...
, engraved from a photograph by Jacques Jubert; * 2011:
face value The face value, sometimes called nominal value, is the value of a coin, bond, stamp or paper money as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the issuing authority. The face value of coins, stamps, or bill is usually its legal value. Ho ...
of 1.10
euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
s, depicting the ''EE Forbin'' at the Kerguelen arch during its visit to the archipelago from January 17 to 23 1978, stamp engraved by Elsa Catelin, issued jointly with ''Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon''.


Notes


References


External links

* {{Navbox Kerguelen Islands French Southern and Antarctic Lands Kerguelen Islands