Island Conservation-Moths and memories |10 August 2009

I met Raymonde only once myself, way back in 1996, at her home in Bel Ombre, surrounded by the flowers and shrubs that she tended so lovingly, the large flock of Madagascar fodies (sren) and Madagascar turtledoves (tourtreldezil) that she could not resist throwing handfuls of rice to, and her giant tortoises and other pets. But while doing research on the scientific expeditions to Seychelles that took place during 20th century I had already found out that she had contributed to the success of the first trip to our islands, from January to May 1956, by the French lepidopterist (butterfly and moth expert) Henry Legrand.

Henry, who was to earn the nickname of Monsieur Papillon while here, was accompanied by an assistant, Yvonne Muller, and we are lucky that both of them have left detailed diaries of their stay. On January 17, after three nights at the Pirates’ Arms in Victoria, they moved to the Beau Vallon Beach Hotel, run by Raymonde. Some five years later accommodation and full board at the hotel, the predecessor of the Fisherman’s Cove, was being advertised at 15 rupees per person daily and 400 rupees monthly – presumably the tariff, as well as the tropical beach setting, made Henry and Yvonne decide to move there. The latter’s entry for January 20 reads:

Nous voici installés à l’Hotel Beau Vallon, qui sera le Quartier Général de « l’Opération Papillons » . Il présente à la fois l’inconvénient et l’avantage d’être à cinq kilomètres de Victoria, perdu parmi les arbres et en bordure d’une plage dont on nous a dit qu’elle était « la plus belle du monde »... Je me lie rapidement avec mon hôtelière seychelloise, Raymonde. Elle a 34 ans, est aussi calme et dolente que je suis nerveuse. Mais on dit que les contrastes s’attirent et c’est sans doute pourquoi elle deviendra ma meilleure amie...

Specimens

Henry Legrand, for his part, was delighted that moths were attracted to the hotel lights at night – although he had to use his butterfly net to chase away the house geckoes that competed with him for specimens. On January 17 he wrote in his diary:

Ma lampe de varangue est bien commode pour la chasse aux papillons de nuit, car on peut la déplacer de 4 à 5 mètres; mais j’ai de sérieux concurrents en la personne de ces petits sauriens appelés en France « geckos », et il me faut commencer par les éloigner avec mon filet ou à grands coups de canne.

Thanks to Raymonde and their other Seychellois friends and acquaintances, Henry and Yvonne did not have too much difficulty to sort out the logistics of a five-month stay in Seychelles that included excursions to (in chronological order) Ile du Suète, Cerf, Cosmoledo, Aldabra, Praslin, Aride, Curieuse and Silhouette. On several occasions, when they did not have a car, Raymonde drove them around in her Hillman. She was at the Long Pier on March 11 to pick them up when they got back from the outer islands on the De Quincy. She worried constantly that Yvonne drove her own rented car too fast. Henry wrote on February 10: Retour de nuit à Beau Vallon, malgré les terreurs de Raymonde (Mme Delorié), qui trouve qu’Yvonne conduit trop vite.

And Yvonne herself recounted : Je « marche » à une allure très raisonnable : trente miles (quarante-cinq kilomètres) à l’heure. Cela n’empêche pas Raymonde de pousser les hauts cris: « Vous  êtes folle de rouler à une vitesse pareille ! Vous voulez nous tuer…» J’éclate de rire.

And it was at the Beau Vallon Beach Hotel that people who had heard of their interest in moths and butterflies would bring them specimens. One of these was a large strikingly-patterned oleander hawkmoth (gro lay) given to Raymonde by Mrs F. Bonnetard, who had used a glass to catch it on her property at La Retraite.  Yvonne recalled:

Les Seychellois se montrent très intéressés et aussi un peu amusés par notre mission entomologique. Chacun devient un émule d’Henry Legrand, observe les papillons, les capture, nous les apporte, et ceux-ci sont les sujets de longues conversations. Peu à peu, avec un brin d’étonnement, les Seychellois découvrent que leur pays a un intérêt particulier et que les passions bizarres des Continentaux l’ont pris pour cible numéro un.

The evening of Sunday April 8 was particularly memorable. Right in the middle of a dance at the Beau Vallon Beach Hotel a white moth with brown markings landed on Yvonne Muller’s new dress. The sharp-eyed Henry Legrand called out that she should not move, rushed over and caught the insect: C’était en effet un papillon complètement inconnu auquel on donnera plus tard le nom de Cirrhocrista mulleralis… Bientôt, comme pour célébrer cet évènement, tout le monde danse, Yvonne, Raymonde, A. Dauban, les anglais de l’hotel, etc.

Departure

Henry and Yvonne left Seychelles on the State of Bombay on Wednesday May 2, 1956. The carefully-packed specimens in their luggage were going to be studied by Henry for his book Lépidoptères des îles Seychelles et d’Aldabra.

Le dernier repas à l’hotel s’est déroulé dans une ambience assez triste... Après le déjeuner, Florette au nom du personnel a remis à chacun d’entre nous une branche d’antigone en répétant sa devise : « Ton image est gravée dans mon cœur ». Lorna, la fille ainée de Raymonde, m’a donné un collier de coquillages et un bracelet qu’elle venait de confectionner.... Raymonde était très triste. J’ai voulu conserver le sourire tout le temps, et j’y suis parvenue. Mais que d’efforts... ! ... Puis Mahé et ses montagnes s’éloignent, et se font plus petites et plus sombres à mesure que le soir descend... C’est une page de notre vie qui se tourne...

I don’t know if Raymonde ever knew that she had been written about in this manner, and that Yvonne’s diary was actually published as a book the following year. For those who appreciated Nana or Madanm Jourdan, as she was also known, it is heartening to know that her memory lives on in a very special niche in the annals of biological research in Seychelles.

The Island Conservation Society promotes the conservation and restoration of island ecosystems.

by Pat Matyot