ASSORTED HISTORICAL RESEARCH POSTINGS OF A BRIEF NATURE

By Eric Krause (Krause House Info-Research Solutions), 2009 - Present

• December 27, 2009

On December 26, 2009, Joe West provided the following information and noted that the referenced ships are probably the Louis Erasme and the Marquis des Antin but that the third ship the Esperance is what puzzles him:

"I noted  the passage taken from Voltaire .... I had previously read this book and seen this passage:

"La prise de Louisbourg fut encore fatale à la compagnie française des Indes;. elle avait pris à ferme le commerce des pelleteries du Canada, et ses vaisseaux, au retour des Grandes-Indes, venaient souvent mouiller à Louisbourg. Deux gros vaisseaux de la compagnie y abordent immédiatement après sa prise, et se livrent eux-mêmes. Ce ne fut pas tout; une fatalité non moins singulière enrichit encore les nouveaux possesseurs du cap Breton. Un gros bâtiment espagnol, nommé l’Espérance, qui avait échappé à des armateurs, croyait trouver sa sûreté dans le port de Louisbourg, comme les autres; il y trouva sa perte comme eux."

My reply:

I see, of course, in Richard Brown's, A History Of The Island of Cape Breton With Some Account Of The Discovery And Settlement Of Canada, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland (1869), p. 174:

"Don Antonio D'Ulloa, a captain in the Spanish navy, accompanied the French Academicians to Peru, in the year 1735, to measure an arc of the meridian under the equator. He sailed from Callao in October, 1744, in a French ship called the 'Notre Dame de la Délivrance,' in company with the 'Louis Érasme' and the 'Marquis d'Antin.' All the ships had a large amount of treasure on board, stowed away under the cocoa with which they were laden. On July 21, 1745, when off the Azores, they fell in with the English privateers 'Prince Frederic' and 'Duke.' After a smart action of three hours, the 'Louis Érasme' and 'Marquis d'Antin' struck their colours. Whilst the privateers were engaged in securing their prizes, the 'Delivrance' crowded all sail, and steered for Louisbourg. On August 12 she made the island of Scatari, and on the following morning was captured by a ship of war off the mouth of the harbour. Ulloa resided two months at Louisbourg. He has given us some very interesting particulars concerning the place, its trade, the Indians, &c., of which I shall avail myself in the following pages, Ulloa's work was published in 1758 ..."

Of course, we accept D'Ulloa's version, given that he was at Louisbourg, and Voltaire was not. [i.e. Voltaire had perhaps erred and named the French ship the Délivrance the Spanish ship the l’Espérance?]

As for the 'Notre Dame de la Délivrance" :

Check out again D'Ulloa for an original accounting, or easier perhaps, J.S.McLellan, Louisbourg From Its Foundation To Its Fall, 1713-1758 (London: MacMillan and Co., Limited, 1918), pp.308-309:

"Don Antonio d'Ulloa, a Spanish scientist, had the misfortune to be a passenger on the Notre Dame de la Délivrance, when she was captured in 1745 off Louisbourg ..."

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[Added Notes]

Don Antonio d'Ulloa notes that Don Pedro de Mendinueta, Captain of the l'Espérance [Esperanza in another translation], a Spanish frigate, was anchored on 26 January in the harbour of Talcaguano where Ulloa would also be anchored.

The Esperanza [Hope] never went to Louisbourg.

See Don George Juan, Don Antone de Ulloa, Voyage Historique De lLAmérique Méridionale, Fait Par Ordre Du Roi D'Espagne ... , Volume 2, 1752, Book 2, Chapter 4, p. 31; Book Three, Chapter One, pp. 77-78; Book Three, Chapter Five, pp. 108-117; Book Three, Chapter 8, pp. 139-151.

John Pinkerton [Editor], A General Collection Of The Best And Most Interesting Voyages And Travels In All Parts Of The World, Volume 14, (London: Longman..., 1813), p. 666

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