 Meanwhile , in Paris Meyerbeer began to seek new libretti , initially considering Le prophète of Scribe , Le <unk> <unk> by Henri Saint @-@ Georges and eventually settling on Scribe 's Vasco da Gama ( later to become L 'Africaine ) , which he contracted to complete by 1840 . However , Meyerbeer had envisaged that the main role in L 'Africaine would be written for Falcon ; after the catastrophic failure of her voice in 1837 , he turned instead to Le prophète . 
