Massacre Bay and the Le Perouse expedition of 1787

[ipacific]

Massacre Bay 

French sailors of the sailing ships Astrolabe and Boussole (part of the Le Perouse  expedition) attempted to come ashore to replenish their water supplies. Unfortunately, a  miscalculation caused the sailors to become stranded on the shallow reef of the northern  coast of Tutuila.  On December 11,  1787, a skirmish broke out when the  Samoan villagers attacked the  stranded French sailors.

Near the  village of A’asu, a monument was  erected commemorating the 12  French sailors and 39 Samoans who  were killed in the incident.  From this incidence of misunderstanding the Samoan Islands were regarded as fierce and unfriendly for decades by sailors.

Massacre Bay may be accessed by  car or riding an aiga bus.  North Shore Tours also runs  excursions to this scenic and historic  site.   

[Ratangaroa]

The numbers have always been an interest. Many times casualty numbers change..
When researching Maori Wars, over the years the new reinterpretation is now The New Zealand Wars.
Also The Maori Wars have gradually gone from Maori win, to Maori tie, to Maori lost in some versions of new history, keep in mind that The National Party is currently in office.

Timi Kara one of the first Prime Ministers was Maori and Prime Minister for 2 terms. He was Maori Iwi born, and held up for Maori interests. Interestingly some very important points are not made in new versions.

The point is 70 men went ashore from the Le Perouse Expedition, and only a few came back. The Le Perouse crew
never went ashore again for the head count of Samoan fallen, in fact it is written that they did not step back ashore but were stuck floating along for some time. The number 39 of Samoan fallen is extremely questionable.

It goes further than that too...
The journals of the fallen expedition were printed and very popular among French academic readers, "thats why"
no further attempts were made, because of the sold journals. There was even a public panic in that time
of possible invasion by giant island savages.