October 31^st, 2006

The belt buckle we found yesterday Credit : Max Guérout

The tent had been shaken by the wind all night long. The island was surrounded by the swell which separated into two wave trains which then met again at its northern end.
This convergence of movements resulted in the formation of a sand strip and the gradual change in the size and shape of this end. In that morning the breaking waves at the northern tip of the island were spectacular.

Obviously, there was no diving session planned for that day. The divers gave up as soon as they had a look at the wrecking site.
Therefore, the northern area that the diggers were searching gradually extended since the team was reinforced.

Wave trains converging at the northern tip of the island Credit : Max Guérout

This time we had a lot of satisfaction because for the first time since we had dug this area, a coherent structure appeared in the middle of a chaos made of collapsed coral blocks.
The construction of a small concrete building, which had been destroyed afterwards and filled in at the same place as the remains of the castaways’ house, considerably disturbed the area.
We thought that we finally had an element of the construction built by the “forgotten Malagasy people” which was not destroyed when they started the construction of the modern building.
In order to understand it better, we cleared its remains.

The Dream Team Credit : Max Guérout

An open fireplace (?), surrounded by vertical beach rock slabs, contained a big ballast stone which served as an anvil or a cutting table. This sand layer mixed with ash was about 30 cm thick.

While we were keeping on clearing the zone, we first found a big Chinese ceramic shard, then several copper containers, which was surprising because it was an embankment area. In a 1954 newspaper we had learned that some meteorologists were searching one of the «huts» and that «in the middle of humus composed of decayed rubbish, they discovered an ancient copper dish (repaired in several places)».

Copper containers Credit : Max Guérout

Did they get rid of these containers they considered of no value or did soil disturbance uncover and then cover again this series of troughs?

We were aware of how lucky we were to discover this rare evidence.

One of the containers we found was composed of no less than nine pieces riveted on each other, which alone symbolized the fifteen years of survival.