French Interest in Pacific America in the Eighteenth Century
1935; University of California Press; Volume: 4; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/3633131
ISSN1533-8584
Autores Tópico(s)Historical Studies on Spain
ResumoEffective projects to extend French navigation to the Pacific ocean and the western coasts of America owed their origins to tales that buccaneers and filibusters brought back to Europe toward the end of the seventeenth century.1 Their raids in the West Indies and along the Caribbean littoral had been as constant and certain a peril as the tropical hurricanes. In 1671 the piratic tornado had reached the Pacific when Morgan sacked Panama. In 168o a body of English and French buccaneers captured Porto Bello and again crossed the isthmus to Panama. Once on the Pacific side they cruised southward along the coasts for a year and a half, sacking and pillaging. The survivors made their way back to the West Indies in 1682. The second sack of Panama in 168o gave rise to fantastic stories of fabulous treasures that French entrepreneurs could extract from foreign lands. Influenced by these golden legends, M. de Gennes set sail in 1695 for the coasts of Chile and Peru but the expedition was a complete failure.2 The South Sea Company organized in 1698 had more success. The two promoters, Jean Bourdan of Paris and Noel Danycan of St. Malo, sent out two ships under Captain de Beauchesne who cruised along the west coast as far as the equator. He found in Peru a profitable market for French products but the company was forbidden by the home authorities to repeat the voyage. The European interests of France at the opening of the eighteenth century were such that the government preferred
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