Visit the Rest of The PPDRDG by Returning to the Site Map and Picking Another Page!

The PROPEOPDEMREP's Commissar of
Historical Preservationist Memorials Presents:
The Photos from the Magistrate's trip to the Chagos Archipelago in

1937 - That's right, 1937 or so.
Aboard the SS ZAMBEZIA, the supply ship based at Port Louis, Mauritius.

The Governor of Mauritius was also the Governor of The Chagos at the time.
All adults over the age of 14 in the Chagos Archipelago were required to sign employment contracts every 1 or 2 years in order to stay on the islands.  Sometimes, there was no opportunity and residency was continued until a Magistrate from Mauritius became available.  These photos come from the 1937 visit of the Government's Magistrate, Henri P. Dalais.



Many thanks to Kirby Crawford for these photographs.


Below, the SS ZAMBEZIA, which was the supply ship for the Chagos Archipelago in from 1934 - 1951.
ZAMBEZIA was built in Middlesbrough, England, and launched in 1903.
She was a steel single-screw steamer; 1281 Tons; Length 220 ft; Breadth 33 ft; Depth 10.9 ft
Owned by Rogers & Co. (Colonial Steamships Co., Ltd) of Port Louis Mauritius
Scrapped and broken up in Karachi, June, 1951.  Replaced by MV MAURITIUS.


Below:  The SS ZAMBEZIA docked at East Point Plantation, Diego Garcia Atoll.

Below:  The Administrator of the Pointe Marianne sub-plantation Francis Gordon (center).  From left to right, M. Talbot, Gaston Vielle, Volcy de Robillard and M. Castillon.

Below:  In addition to the renewal of labor contracts,
other essential activities during official visits to the Chagos included "Judicial Inquiries".
Plantation managers could detain wrong-doers, but only the colonial administration could administer (get it?) serious punishments.


Below:  The Diego Garcia Manager's family out for a Sunday drive.

Below:  A 3-masted Bark outside the pass gets ready to put in to Diego Garcia

Below:  The Motor Launch at Diego Garcia. 
This is probably the same launch repaired by the German Cruiser SMS EMDEN in 1914.


Below:  The Morning of January 1st (1937? 1938?) was celebrated with a Dance, complete with an accordion player!


Below:  Some older photos of Diego Garcia from postcards sold on Mauritius in 1937.
First, the "wreck" is actually one of the hulks used for coal storage during the 1880s when Diego Garcia was "Coaling Station".
Second is photo of the East Point Plantation main yard.  Note the donkeys hitched up to a Coconut Oil Press.
Finally, "A Meeting of Diego People - 1900"  Event unknown.






Now, some other photos from the 1937 Tour.

Below:  Father Duscercle (with beard), the Catholic Priest assigned to the islands and
some of his flock on Six Iles (Six Islands) in the Chagos. 
An interesting note - in 2017, scientific team surveying the islands found that the six islands are now one continuous stretch.

Below:  Father Duscercle on Six Iles, 1937.

Below:  "Pirogues" at Salomon Atoll.  Unlike Diego Garica, the other atolls of the Chagos Archipelago consist of a necklace of
small islands surrounding the lagoon, and sail boats like these were essential to travel to the outer coconut groves.

Below:  The jetty on Ile Boddam, Salomon Atoll.

Below:  The radio at the Manager's HQ on Ile Boddam, operated by his son, Paul Caboche.
One thing in this picture really interests me - see the deer antlers that hang on the wall? 
How did they get to the middle of the Indian Ocean? 
One answer was that the antlers are from a Rusa Deer introduced onto Mauritius from Java by the Dutch in 1639. (They are now a game species on Mauritius). 
If so, these probably came from the Caboche estate on Mauritius.

Rusa Deer have been introduced to dozens of islands in the Southern Hemisphere, and may have been introduced in the Chagos, but there is no known historical documentation of that.  Still, the plantation managers introduced several species of birds and plants in the 19th & early 20th Centuries, and it would explain the antlers on Ile Boddam.  I mean, why would one ship antlers from one's estate on Mauritius to the Chagos in the 1930s?  Hmmmmm...

Below:  The Magistrate's Party returns to the ZAMBEZIA from Ile Boddam.


And finally, Manager's children and their nannies.  I think this is on Ile Boddam, and is most probably of the Vielles family. 
M. Vielles was manager of Peros Banhos until 1955.








Visit the Rest of The PPDRDG by Returning to the Site Map and Picking Another Page!
Want to use something from this site?  See the TERMS OF USE.