Orissa is a place full of surprises! Some time back I visited one such place called “The False Point”. It was the unusual name that attracted me to the place. One has to travel by boat for over two hours from Paradip Port on the eastern coast of Orissa to reach this place.
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Channel-on-way-to-the-False-Point.)
‘False Point’ is an old harbour with a lighthouse in the Kendrapara district of Orissa, on the north of the Mahanadi estuary. It takes its name from the fact that it was often mistaken by ships for Point Palmyras (Palmyras is a sort of palm) one degree farther north. Point Palmyras was the spot from where the ships moved towards the Ganges. In fact the incoming ships used to take sailors from Balasore town as guides as they were considered well versed in navigating the tricky mouth of the river.
At the ‘False Point’, the ships had to anchor in a comparatively exposed roadway, and loading and unloading could only be carried on in fair weather. However a considerable export of rice in sailing ships, chiefly to Mauritius and Ceylon used to take place from here.
(Batighar-or-lighthouse-at-False-Point.)
This is the first lighthouse installed on the eastern coast of India. It is around 45 kms from the District Headquarterrs Kendrapara. It is situated in a village named Batighar, on the other bank of river Kharinasi. Batighar, as the name suggests means a lighthouse. It is surrounded by pleasant natural beauty. It is said that in olden times it was known as ‘Kaudia Dweep’ and used as hunting ground of Kujanga Kings.
Construction of this lighthouse was started on 6th December, 1836 and finished on 16th October 1837. A plaque at the lighthouse informs that the first light was exhibite3d on 1st March 1838 by H. Righly, 2nd Lieut., Executive Engineer.
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Lighthouse-started-1838.)
The stones used were transported from Barabati Fort, Cuttack. The height of the structure is 125 feet and the foundation wall is 15 feet thick. The diameter at land level is 10 feet. To reach the top, one has to climb 138 steps made of cement concrete and a 16-step ladder. The speciality of this lighthouse is that it is operational from the date of its lighting.
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Grave-Conservator-of-Ports-Harris.)
Just next to the boundry wall of the Light House, in the shadow of trees, is a small cluster of graves. These are the graves of the English Superintendents of the Lighthouse, their assistants and the families. There is the grave of Madeline, daughter of Capt. A. Smith, who died in the prime of her youth on May 18, 1880, aged only 24 years.
Inscription on another grave reminds us of Capt. H.A. Harris, the Conservator of Orissa Ports who died by drowning on 8th May, 1877. The tombstone on the grave with the inscription was got erected by his Assistant J. S. Black.
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Graveyard-next-to-the-Lighthouse.)
A young child Winifred Daisy Geary who died on 23rd July, 1882 lies buried nearby. She was aged only 5 years and 7 months and 11 days at the time of death. Nearby lies the infant Annie Marie who left this world on 16th May 1888, having lived only for 4 months. It leaves one sad but baffled. What after all was the urge that motivated these people to come thousands of miles away from their country, in a hot and humid climate, live in isolation loose one member of the family after another and still hang on to the place. Surely it was something more than the desire to earn some money!
About an hours further boat ride lies the island of Hukitola. Near this are reportedly visible the remains of a sunken ship. The ship is believed to be ‘Velleda’ a French ship. John Beames who served as Collector of Cuttack from 1875 to 1878 and later as Collector of Balasore district from 1869 to 1873 has, in his autobiography, ‘Memoires of a Bengal Civilian’, described this ship. Unfortunately his description of the ship and the happenings have not been correctly reported in some recent articles. These articles informed that according to Beames the French cargo ship, measuring 250 feet by 50 feet, sunk in a severe cyclone in 1875 near Hukitola. The ship was carrying food grains, sugar, liquor, wine and other goods from France to India. Some crew members of the ship also drowned and their bodies were reportedly buried in a cemetery near the light house.
On the visit to the False Point I found that there is a Light House there. However there is no lighthouse in Hukitola and the reference must have been to the lighthouse at False Point. I visited the cemetery near the Falsepoint Lighthouse and found that it has only 11 graves and none of those, from the inscriptions, appears to be of a Frenchman.
Beames’ book makes a very fascinating reading and what he wrote about the sunken French ship and the False Point is quite different from what has been quoted by writers in the recent past. He wrote, “One day one of these ships, the Velleda, was driven ashore in a storm. The sagacious police, for some reason best known to themselves-the workings of a native policeman’s mind are dark and tortuous and hard to understand- arrested the Captain and the crew, and put a guard on the vessel as she lay on the beach at the mouth of the river Daya. The latter precaution was wise and saved the vessel from being plundered.
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John-Beames)
John Beames' photo taken from the above cited book.
The Magistrate of Pooree, an eccentric person, Joseph Armstrong, telegraphed to me for orders as to what he was to do with the men. In reply I instructed him to supply them with food and anything else they might require, and to get carts and send them to Cuttack at once. After a few days they arrived, a hungry, dirty, ragged, dishevelled party of about a dozen Frenchmen. We accommodated them in the Police Barracks, and gave them food and clothing and medical aid. The Captain, named Semelin, was a merry, little, round Sancho Panza of a man and amused us very much while he remained at Cuttack.”
Beames then gives a fascinating description of the private provisions being carried by the French Captain of the ship, “he had on board a small stock of provisions for his sown use, and these he got up from the coast (it was about fifty miles from Cuttack that the vessel was wrecked) and offered them for sale. Needless to say they were eagerly bought up- champagne, Sauterne* (*French dessert wine from the Sauternais region of the Graves section in Bordeaux), Burgundy wines, and the most delicious preserved fruits, fish, cheese and other provisions. My wife laid in a good stock and we fully enjoyed them. They were cheap too.”
Later on Beames sent all the papers required by French law for reporting ship wrecks, to the French Consul-General at Calcutta, subsequently sent down a request to sell the ship and remit the money to him for transmission to the owners in France. This was got done by Beames who writes that a rich merchant in Cuttack bought her as she lay and broke her up and reportedly made a good deal, by selling the timbers and other things. Semelin, being part- owner kept his share of the money, and the rest was sent to the Consul.”
It was not easy for the Europeans to tolerate the climate of coastal India and this took its toll on the French captain. Beames narrates this toucing end in a simple but effective way, “Then poor little Sancho Panza Semelin fell ill, and the doctor said he had better be sent to Calcutta, where he would find a French doctor who could understand him. His disease was some internal ailment of an obscure nature. So I shipped him off and his crew to Calcutta, whence, I was informed, they shipped on board various French vessels and so got home. Poor Semelin, however died in the hospital in Calcutta, and I received a touching letter of thanks from the Consul-General for my kindness to him.”
So all this makes it clear that the Velleda was broken up and sold and therefore the ship, parts of which are presently visible near Hukitola is not Velleda. Furthermore there were no casulalities of French sailors when Velleda ran aground and the there are no Frenchmen lying buried in that area. The graves near the Lighthouse are of Englishmen posted there and of their families.
I am sorry to have taken the romance out of the exercise to discover the remains of the French ship Velleda near Hukitola but then facts need to be shared. Of course that area was notorious for shipwrecks and who knows, the researchers might find something even more fascinating in the remains of the ship near Hukitola.
Thus ends my story of the first lighthouse in Orissa, the False Point, old British graves and a sunken French ship
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Text and photographs by K.J.S.Chatrath
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Copyright K.J.S.Chatrath
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( This blog does not sell any hotel rooms/air tickets/packages/insurance cover etc. It is intended only for providing information to travellers and sharing of travel experiences.)
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(A shorter version of this article of mine was published in The Tribune, Chandigarh on May 9, 2010 as 'The True story of False Point' and in my website
www.fiftyplustravels.com)
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