ÃŽle aux Cochons

The Ile aux Cochons ( German: porcine islet ) is the third largest and westernmost island of the Crozet Islands in the southern Indian Ocean. It belongs politically to the French overseas territory " Terres et australes antarctiques françaises ".

Geography

The approximated round volcanic island has a diameter of about 9 miles and this case has an area of ​​about 67 km ². They reached the Mont Richard -Foy, a stratovolcano, a height of 770 m above sea level and thus represents the third highest island of the archipelago dar. About 15 km north-east of Ile aux Cochons are the Îlots of Apôtres, about 30 kilometers south-east lies the Ile the Pingouins. From the largest island of the archipelago, the Île de la Possession, it is about 120 kilometers away.

History

The island was discovered in January 1772 by Marc -Joseph Marion du Fresne. American sealers sat from about 1820 pigs as live stock on the island and called the Hog henceforth Iceland. The pigs caused severe damage to the native flora and fauna there, meanwhile, are but extinct. On the night of 6 to 7 March 1887, the crew of the French freighter Tamaris near the Isle of Pingouins shipwrecked. The crew escaped to the Ile aux Cochons and built a makeshift accommodation. It succeeded on August 4, equip a Giant Petrel with a message that was actually found on 18 September 5100 by kilometers in the western Australian city of Fremantle. The late launched in Madagascar because of the long lines of communication French warship La Meurthe reached on December 2 the island, but could not find the shipwrecked there. Those had attempted in the meantime to reach a raft the Ile de la Possession, where they perished apparently. It only took the captain a letter.