Going ashore in the Anambas Islands: accounts by Hyacinthe de Bougainville and Cyrille Laplace in 1825 and 1831
Abstract
The Anambas Islands are a small archipelago consisting of six islands located around 150 miles east of the city of Pekan on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula at roughly the same latitude as Kuala Lumpur. Today they constitute the Anambas Regency (Kabupaten Kepulauan Anambas), part of the Indonesian province of Kepulauan Riau. These accounts describe visits by French ships in the mid-1920s and in 1830, when the British settlement in Singapore was new and there was no Dutch presence. Residents of the islands traded with Johor and clearly were aware of European activity in the region. In an indication of political sensitivity, Bougainville covered the names of his ships and flew no flag.
Summary
This article presents the first English translations of two French naval accounts describing visits to the Anambas Islands in March 1825 and March 1831, respectively. The first, by Captain Hyacinthe de Bougainville aboard the frigate La Thétis, records what he believed to be the first European landing in the archipelago, which he noted had been “forgotten” on existing charts (p. 144). The second, by Captain Cyrille Laplace aboard the corvette La Favorite, was explicitly commissioned by the French Minister for the Navy to explore the anchorages and ports of the Anambas and Natunas for potential naval use (p. 148). Both visits occurred in a period when the British settlement at Singapore was still new and no Dutch administrative presence existed in the area (p. 143).
Bougainville’s account documents initial contact with local Malays, their trading practices, and the material culture of the islands, including a well-built wooden model of a European brig found in one hut and a Koran in a family dwelling (pp. 146–147). He also recorded the presence of a recent Chinese settlement and a Malay trader who had survived a 1821 shipwreck near the Natunas and who demonstrated knowledge of the Malacca Strait as far as Penang (p. 146). Notably, Bougainville deliberately concealed his ships’ names and flew no flag, indicating political sensitivity about revealing French naval movements in the region (p. 147).
Laplace’s account, written six years later, provides a more detailed ethnographic portrait of the main village of Siantan, including its mosque, a small Chinese merchant community producing fine silk, and a system of slavery in which most of the 300–400 inhabitants belonged to the Sultan of Rhio (p. 150). He met the Raja of Siantan, identified as the nephew of the Sultan of Rhio, and concluded that the Raja functioned more as an intendant than a civil or military authority (p. 151).
Key Findings
- Bougainville found the Anambas “forgotten” on the 1823 English chart of the China Sea, citing Horsburgh’s observation that the islands had “never been explored” and only “very rarely been visited” (p. 144).
- Local Malays traded coconuts, pineapples, bananas, and chickens for biscuits, handkerchiefs, axes, and spare tools; they laughed at French fish-hooks as inferior to their own (p. 145).
- A Malay trader aboard La Thétis demonstrated knowledge of the Malacca Strait as far as Penang and confirmed annual trade relations with Singapore, Macao, Sambas, and Pontianak (p. 146).
- Laplace observed that the village of Siantan contained no more than 300–400 inhabitants, most of whom were slaves belonging to the Sultan of Rhio, for whom they fished and cultivated land (p. 150).
- A small Chinese community in Siantan was described as merchants, growers, and manufacturers who produced “a cloth of very fine silk” (p. 150).
- Laplace’s official instructions specified that it was “most useful” to identify unoccupied points where naval vessels could gather for joint expeditions, revealing the strategic purpose behind the visit (p. 148).
Conclusion
Dyer’s translations offer a rare window into the Anambas Islands at a moment of transition, when the islands were still outside formal colonial administration but already integrated into regional trade networks linking Singapore, Borneo, and China. The accounts collectively reveal a small, politically fragmented society under the nominal suzerainty of the Sultan of Rhio, with a slave-based economy, active Chinese commercial presence, and inhabitants well aware of European activity in the surrounding waters.
Context
- The Anambas Islands now form the Anambas Regency within the Indonesian province of Kepulauan Riau, roughly 150 miles east of Pekan on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula (p. 143).
- Bougainville’s deliberate concealment of ship names and refusal to fly a flag reflects the diplomatic sensitivities of French naval operations in waters adjacent to the newly established British settlement at Singapore (p. 147).