The wreck of the Le Centaur
Le Centaur was a French ship that was traveling from Mauritius to France in 1750 with a cargo of peppercorns. There were 300 crew and 100 passengers on board. The ship was commanded by Captain Monsieur de la Butte and in fine weather it ran aground on the 19th of January 1750 a little west of Cape Agulhas. The accident happened when the captain made some unfortunate decisions. The ship got caught in an inshore current and was washed ashore. The boat could not be dragged back out to sea. Everyone abandoned the ship in an orderly manner.
The passengers and crew decided to take a trek to the Cape Castle. A trip of several hundred kilometres which would take many days.They decided that this would be preferable to camping on the beach waiting for a rescue team.
Bags and barrels of provisions were taken from the ship. Goods were divided and the trekkers had to carry what they could manage and they set off hoping for the best. They had to negotiate high cliffs and river mouths along the way. The trek was agonizing. Supplies were depleted and many of the weak dropped out to die alone. At length news of the wreck reached the Castle and wagons were sent to collect the survivors.
The wreck was rediscovered in 1984. Artifacts that helped with identification were a large bell and a corroded coin that was identified as French. The date was established as somewhere between 1738 and 1770. A dive revealed peppercorns everywhere and the wreck was confirmed as the Le Centaur.
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