This is damn interesting.

This article contains quotations from contemporaneous accounts,

which might be offensive for today's listeners.

The moon was new on the night of the 31st of July 1761, and the wide expanse of the Indian

Ocean, uniformly black.

But Captain Jean de la Farge, of the French cargo ship Lutille, foresaw no danger.

True there were some minor discrepancies among the maps available on board. But this part of the sea was clearly empty.

Other than the large number of birds the crew had seen flocking about all day,

and he had no desire to reduce speed.

He had already been at sea for more than a week.

It could take more than three to sail from Madagascar to the Mascarine Islands,

where the governor awaited his return, with food

and supplies. Threatened by the English fleet, the colonies there needed all he could bring.

Lefargue had his own additional reasons for pressing on. An enterprising fellow, he had taken

the opportunity, while in Madagascar, to obtain some goods he planned to sell on his own account,

which is why Luteel's route was a bit of a detour from its obvious course back to the masquerines.

Since LaFargue wasn't supposed to be engaging in personal merchandising on this trip, he was making for the island of Roderique, where he could trade his cargo before heading on to his official destination of Eil-Laance, known today as Mauritius.

Rodrigue was almost 600 kilometers further east, but, given the uncertain timeframes involved

with sailing vessels, no one should be the wiser to his little side trip, so long as he didn't fall too far behind schedule.

It was just past 10.20 that night. LaFargue was in his cabin when two sharp bumps shook Luteel.

They were not very violent, but every sailor on board knew what they meant.

Luteel had just struck ground.

...