Jean-Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent's Journey
Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Literature · Subcategory: Literary fragments · Year: 1800 · Authors: Jean-Baptiste Geneviève Marcellin Bory de Saint-Vincent
Jean-Baptiste Geneviève Marcellin Bory de Saint-Vincent (Agen, 6 July 1778 - Paris, 22 December 1846) was a French naturalist, geographer and officer who took part in the scientific and military expedition around the world led by Captain Nicolas Baudin at the beginning of the 19th century.
Between 1 and 13 November 1800 this expedition stayed in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Bory de Saint-Vincent took advantage of his stay here to take notes that later served him for the writing of his works Essay on the Fortunate Islands... (1803) and Journey to the four main islands of the seas of Africa… (1804), in which, as a good scientist and enlightened man, he left interesting comments about what he saw at that time.
From the naturalist's point of view, we highlight, first of all, his surprise at discovering on his excursions through the ravines of Valleseco, Bufadero and San Andrés, all near Santa Cruz, that they were not as arid and scorching as they seemed at first; on the contrary, there he was
«Where I collected samples of cardón, verodes and other plants unknown to me»
As for his comments on urban aspects of Santa Cruz and its port, the Frenchman left us a small picture of what the entrance to the city was like, three years after Nelson's attack.
«The pier, solidly built of black volcanic stones, has a rounded end and contains seven artillery pieces. Landing is by very uncomfortable steps […] where great care must be taken, then one walks along a kind of terrace [...] where the customs house is located. The city is entered through a wooden gate»
Another of the most interesting aspects noted in his writings is the description of the society he found here, pointing out with disbelief the following:
«In these streets and squares we found many priests and friars in habits, which was an entirely new spectacle for us. As well as many poor people, naked or ragged, of a repugnant filth, who besieged us asking for money, and several women who approached us uttering all kinds of insults and insinuations, but their misery and filth did not motivate us to accompany them…»
The young Saint-Vincent, 22 years old at the time, was shocked by the very different reality of Santa Cruz of those days and the enlightened France from which he came. Here he found no promenades where elegant ladies went out to flirt with handsome gentlemen. His shiny French republic, about to become an empire, had nothing to do with the island society he encountered on his stopover. All this impact was reflected in his writings.
On his return to France, Bory de Saint-Vincent continued his military career as a cartographer, travelling throughout Europe during the Napoleonic wars. Later, after the emperor's failure, the Bourbon Restoration forced him into exile. In 1829 he directed, once reinstated in his post, a new expedition to the Peloponnese, and between 1840 and 1842 another to Algeria. He died in 1846 as a member of the Academy of Sciences and commander of the Legion of Honour.
We have no doubt that Bory de Saint-Vincent, a learned man interested in the nature of everything around him, was a valid paradigm of that cultural movement of the first half of the 19th century, crucial to understanding modern Western culture, called Romanticism.
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