Rather, it is an intriguing tale encompassing her illustrious history and the gruesome facts alleged to have surrounded her disappearance. Hallstrom's own search proved a most perplexing journey, but his account of his quest for the wreck, situated somewhere off the coast of Madagascar, is a most fascinating story.

History

In 1681, the King of Siam had a vision of forming an alliance with France through its king, Ludvig XIV, known as the "Sun King". Hoping to flatter and impress the French monarch, his Siamese counterpart prepared to send him a ship laden with priceless gifts. The first ship, too small to accommodate the wealth of goods, was replaced by the significantly larger vessel, the 'Soleil D'Orient'.

Among the treasures on board were items considered, even in those times, valuable antiques, including gifts the Siamese king had received from the Emperor of Japan. These included a Japanese dinner service, of gold, comprising over one thousand pieces.

The 'Soleil D'Orient' departed from Siam in August 1681, her precious consignment accompanied by three Siamese ambassadors, wearing tall hats and smoking heavily...

On 1 October 1681, she arrived at what was then known as the Isle of France (Reunion) in the Indian Ocean. The vessel, leaking badly, stayed here to undergo repairs. On 1 November, a month later, she set sail once again, never to be heard from or seen again. Ludvig XIV sent a ship from France to search for her, but to no avail, while, on the Isle of France, a priest imagined that the ship had caught fire, remembering the incessant smoking of the ambassadors.

In 1685, the Governor of the French East India Company in Bombay heard an interesting tale recounted by a French sailor. The sailor, Crozier, from Morlaix, had joined a British pirate ship (or interloper, i.e. without license from the British Crown), the 'Bristol'. The ship had left Bombay in 1682, stopping at Fort Daufin, on the south-eastern corner of the island of Madagascar, for replenishment.

The sailors had made the acquaintance of a black servant called Jean who spoke fluent French owing to his having worked for the French Ambassador in the days before this former French settlement was forsaken. The French had established Fort Daufin as their settlement in 1654, but a legacy of cruel abuse and brutal treatment of their new "subjects", the Madagascans, had resulted in a bloody retaliation. With most of the foreign occupants murdered, Fort Daufin was abandoned in 1674. Although the tyrants were gone, the native residents must have been filled with mistrust for what they might have perceived as the cruel, colonizing outside world.

Jean told Crozier that the 'Soleil D'Orient' had arrived, badly leaking, in Fort Daufin in November 1681. He said the ship's occupants had befriended the locals and had set about repairing their vessel. The ship appeared to be in good sailing form again and it seemed she would soon be ready to leave Madagascar. However, Jean claimed the vessel was "surprised by a tempest", leaving the port in a great hurry. Caught in this "tempest", she was shipwrecked off the coast of Itapere, approximately 4 - 5 leagues from Fort Daufin.

It seems probable that there could have been a tempest, although it was more likely to be a cyclone (the annual cyclone season starting around the middle of November). In fact, over the years many ships have been caught in this cyclone, and today, one can see the wrecks of several modern ships scattered on the beach. But the question still remains in the minds of many a researcher: what was the true fate of this particular vessel and her crew?

While some would wonder how Jean - or Croizier for that matter - knew that this ship was the 'Soleil D'Orient', it is pertinent that the Madagascan's tale included, apart from several crew members' names, a reference to the presence of the three Siamese ambassadors, wearing their tall hats and smoking heavily...information that would have been impossible to know without the ship's actually having anchored at the port.

In December 1995, while the 'Scorpio' was in Djibouti after completing a project in Somalia, Hallstrom was approached by an American group wanting to locate the 'Soleil D'Orient'. However, the group was interested in solving the riddle of the vanished ship by using what they called "remote viewing." This means, in fact, a kind of extra sensory perception (ESP) similar to that used in countries such as the USA to solve baffling murder cases.

Hallstrom himself had been planning a search for the vessel for some time and, over Christmas, he signed an agreement with the group in Stockholm. The arrangement was that Hallstrom would collect a few passengers in Mauritius, one of whom was a professor from Stanford University, California (an expert on the technology of "remote viewing").

The group had already pinpointed a location to where Hallstrom and his passengers would proceed (an arrangement that perfectly suited Hallstrom for it meant his entire mobilization would be paid for). Although he was sceptical of the group's success in finding the 'Soleil D'Orient', he decided that if they did it would be a great opportunity to strike a deal with them to help him with his searches for other shipwrecks!

The 'Scorpio' departed from Djibouti on 28 December, heading for Port Louis, Mauritius. Surviving a cyclone along the way, she arrived at the port on 9 January 1996, where Hallstrom embarked along with a number of American passengers. These included nine members of the "Remote Viewing Group"(RVG) as well as four divers the group had requested owing to their preparedness to bounce dive on air to 70 meters. In addition, there was an extra cook and, for the fun of it, Hallstrom's daughter Ingele. The 'Scorpio', loaded with all the necessary equipment (sent from Singapore) and supplies, set off for Madagascar.

Arriving at her destination, the 'Scorpio' headed directly to the RVG's pre-determined position. After mooring, Hallstrom's ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) was launched but the expected results were not to be found. The RVG, suspicious of the findings, requested that Hallstrom prove the accuracy of his equipment. But fortunately for him, the group had hired an experienced technical project manager, Gordon Richardsson, who could verify that everything was in order. However, Richardsson wanted to see if the sonar could pick up one of the mooring anchors, which, of course, it did. The RVG was now convinced that the wreck did not lie in their "spot".

The professor with the special "sight" went out with the RIB (rubber boat with two outboards) to get a "feeling" for where the ship might be - his perception was that it could not be too far away. Hallstrom and his own crew, at times incredulous, were also interested in the groups' activities, of which some had proved an indisputable success (it was claimed the group had helped the CIA in several military applications).

However, nine days of fruitless searching seemed to indicate that "remote viewing" was not that successful in the case of shipwrecks - or at least on this occasion - and 'Scorpio' returned to St.Louis to disembark its passengers. Hallstrom had some arrangements to take care of before he continued with his own search. His friend in New York, Peter Bafitis, was already working on the drawing up of a contract with the Madagascan Government. After initial contact with the Ambassador to Madagascar in Washington, meetings between Hallstrom and various government officials were conducted in Mauritius, after which final negotiations took place in Antananarivo in April 1996.

The 'Scorpio' left Port Louis on 26 April and, after three days' steaming, the ship arrived at Fort Daufin, Madagascar. Work was begun almost immediately, weather-permitting around the clock every day.

The weak point of the whole project was that the vessel had been missing for four years until it became known approximately where she had been lost. This knowledge, in turn, was based on hearsay, a story recounted from one person to another. Because of the vague position of the sinking, the search area determined by Hallstrom (based on painstaking research) was rather large. The area was also quite difficult to navigate owing to unpredictably shallow water, rocks and occasional huge swells. On one occasion, the 'Scorpio' narrowly escaped disaster herself when the depth of the water suddenly - and with no warning - diminished drastically.

By 28 May, he had carefully combed this entire area, as well as several surrounding areas. To continue the search - an extremely costly operation - the ship would need to refuel. However, a strange, if not eerie, mood had descended on the project, and Hallstrom (not one for superstition, but sufficiently receptive to sinsiter feelings) was suddenly not certain if he wanted to return.

The fact that he had given the project's success a 25% (one-in-four) chance made his decision that much easier - a calculated gamble with a potentially enormous reward, it was worth having pursued this marvellously mysterious wreck! Hallstrom thus decided to head for Durban, South Africa, feeling an instant lightness and sense of relief as the island receded into the distance behind him.

Today, Hallstrom firmly believes that much of the 'Soleil D'Orient's' valuables were most likely to have been smashed up, along with the ship, in fairly shallow water on a rocky coast. As with similar shipwrecks, the contents were perhaps, with time, spread out over quite a large area and, perhaps, even buried by 300 years of swell, current and wave action. If discovered, though, the value of her cargo would still be significantly high when compared with that of other shipwrecks.

Hallstrom may yet decide to resume the search for the 'Soleil D'Orient', so watch this space for information pertaining to any future developments!