Daniel Hirbec

Daniel Hirbec (March 6th 1621, Laval - 1647), French navigator. It carries out at the 17th century of the voyages to the the Antilles, the Netherlands and in Italy.

Origin

Wire of a former Laval-native family (which qualified sior of the Brush in Argentré), Daniel Hirbec, sior of Chambray , left Laval the March 6th 1642 to join Saint-Nazaire where it embarked on the " Notre-Dame " , the April 19th.

Notre-Dame

At that time, the navigators sailed under very precarious conditions and it was necessary to have a strong amount of Insouciance and naivety to dare to make crossings on primitive ships like the “ Notre-Dame ”. This boat which measured 80 barrels, did not have any installation for the passengers. II belonged to only one man who was the Armateur and the captain. On its board reigned an unbreathable atmosphere due to the odor of the Animaux of provision (oxen and sheep) which were neighborly with the men, of the sailors, true " old seamen " , ordered by a captain who presented only very little guarantee of professional knowledge.

The Small-Antilles

The boat counted 65 men (passagers+équipages). It steered its course towards Small the the Antilles without having large problems of crossing. The medical condition was alarming on board this kind of ship. One preserved water during months in " Casks " hidden thoroughly of hold, among the refuse of the " Sentine ", the sewer of the ship. The efforts which one badly produced gladly liking on l'" Pump-well " never managed to completely remove waste of this water which one always measured with parsimony and which one avoided using for the elementary care of the Toilette. It was never made besides individual distribution and each one was to go to drink with the " Lollipops of the mass grave”, installed on the bridge and under the monitoring of a Sentry. Food was in general completely defective. The hams, the Stew S and the shelves of bubble were only one food of luxury and the bread was to be eaten only with the Mouillage. The Cookie of " 18 onces" by man was distributed in sufficient quantity, but as one preserved it in cases or in bags, it swarmed with worms. Animal food could consist only of saltings of pig or ox which often generated the Scorbut. The evening meals consisted of " Gourgane S and Fayol s" , or out of rice adapted to oil and the vinegar and cooked after a fashion.

Navigation at sight

The sailors to which he had entrusted his fate directed empirically in the middle of the oceans. They had initially followed, as far as possible, the coasts and in high-sea, the islands and the archipelagoes were used to them as stakes. They about managed to follow the desired direction and, when they saw a ground, they went up in the Hune S to recognize it. Of course, if it grew dark, they waited the morning to give a name to the place in trimmings of which they had wet. In the great circumstances, " they prenoient the height and pointoient their charts " , but their observations were far from reaching a rigorous precision. After thirty-five days of crossing under the conditions of hygiene and road which we have just described, “Notre-Dame” approached in the Small-Antilles, in the evening of the June 3rd 1642. Hirbec remained with the Martinique until the August 22nd " for there traicter of goods " , it skirted then the Dominique, the Guadeloupe and all the archipelago on the Flibuste English " Denis " , a ship which came from " to run for the Peru ". It was to remain seven months in this area where it went from one island to the other while returning several times on each one of them to accommodate information there on their productions and manners of their inhabitants.

In Europe

The December 31st 1642, it embarked to return to Europe. It essuya a storm which threw it out of its road by causing him a waste of time and some damages with the boat. It remained seventeen days with the the Azores, then it took again the sea on the ship of the captain Jean-Craniums of Flessingue. He saw the coasts of France to the height of Belle-Île-en-Mer, but, as he moved towards Saint-Martin-of-D close to La Rochelle, he had to go down again to the south, to this port. It continued then its voyage towards the Holland which it visited, and returned to Saint-Malo the May 31st 1643, after a 15 month absence.

The August 9th of the same year, it set out again for the Italy, without mercantile idea, as a tourist who wishes to look further into historical and geographical knowledge. But at that time, the seas were not very sure: The the Mediterranean and the coasts of Africa were infested by the Corsaire S Barbaresque S which traversed the seas on ships - Turkish S and Moorish. While returning from Italy, between Libourne and Marseilles, he saw three ships Turkish " which did not predict to him anything good ". He could return in his birthplace where he married Francoise Pinart. He had a named girl Marie, 1646 and a Jean son, baptized the June 19th 1647.

Publications

Voyages of Daniel Hirbec, of Laval, in the Antilles, in the Netherlands and in Italy, 1642 - 1644 , manuscripts of the cabinet of fire Louis-Julien Morin of Beauluère, published by Louis of Beauluère, with a foreword and notes of Emile Moreau. Laval: impr. L. Moreau, 1890, in-8 ̊, 92 p.

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