Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse
Encyclopedia
Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse (ʒɑ̃ fʁɑ̃swa də galop kɔ̃t də lapeʁuːz) (23 August 1741–1788?) was a French Navy
officer and explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania
.
Jean-François de Galaup was born near Albi, France
. Lapérouse was the name of a family property that he added to his name. He studied in a Jesuit
college and entered the naval college in Brest
when he was fifteen. In 1757 he was posted to the Célèbre and participated in a supply expedition to the fort of Louisbourg in New France
; its position is in present-day Nova Scotia
. Lapérouse also was in a second supply expedition in 1758 to Louisbourg
, but that was in the early years of the seven years' war; the fort was under siege and the expedition was forced to make a circuitous route around Newfoundland to avoid British patrols.
In 1759 Lapérouse was wounded in the Battle of Quiberon Bay
, where he was serving aboard the Formidable. He was captured and briefly imprisoned before being paroled back to France; he was formally exchanged in December 1760. He participated in a 1762 attempt by the French to gain control of Newfoundland, escaping with the fleet when the British arrived in force to drive them out.
Following the Franco-American alliance
, Lapérouse fought against the Royal Navy
off the American coast, and victoriously led the frigate Astree in the Naval battle of Louisbourg, 21 July 1781. He was promoted to rank of commodore
when he defeated the English frigate Ariel in the West Indies. In August 1782 he made his name by capturing two English forts
(Prince of Wales Fort
and York Fort) on the coast of Hudson Bay
, but allowed the survivors, including Governor Samuel Hearne
of Prince of Wales Fort, to sail off to England in exchange for a promise to release French prisoners held in England. The next year his family finally consented to his marriage to Louise-Eléonore Broudou, a young creole of modest origins whom he met on Ile de France
(present-day Mauritius
).
, Lapérouse was appointed in 1785 by Louis XVI and his Minister of the Marine, the Marquis de Castries, to lead an expedition around the world. Louis XVI and his court had been stimulated by a proposal from the merchant adventurer William Bolts
, who had earlier tried unsuccessfully to interest Louis’s brother-in-law, the Austrian Emperor Joseph II (brother of Queen Marie Antoinette), in a similar voyage. The French court adopted the concept (though not its author, Bolts), leading to the dispatch of the Lapérouse expedition. Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu, Directeur des Ports et Arsenaux, stated in the draft of the memorandum on the expedition he submitted to the King: “the utility which may result from a voyage of discovery ... has made me receptive to the views put to me by Mr. Bolts relative to this enterprise”. But, Fleurieu explained to the King: “I am not proposing at all, however, the plan for this voyage as it was conceived by Mr. Bolts”. Its aims were to complete the Pacific discoveries of James Cook
(whom Lapérouse greatly admired), correct and complete maps of the area, establish trade contacts, open new maritime routes and enrich French science and scientific collections. His ships were the Astrolabe
(under Fleuriot de Langle) and the Boussole
, both 500 tons. They were storeships, reclassified as frigate
s for the occasion. Their objectives were geographic, scientific, ethnological, economic (looking for possibilities of whaling or fur trading), and political (the eventual establishment of French bases or colonial cooperation with their Spanish allies in the Philippines). They were to explore both the north and south Pacific, including the coasts of the Far East and of Australia, and send back reports through existing European outposts in the area.
, who had been chosen as the expedition's chief engineer, go to London
to find out about the latest conclusions on the anti-scurvy
measures recommended by Cook and the exchange items used by Cook in his dealings with the native peoples, and to buy scientific instruments of English manufacture.
The best-known figure on Cook's mission, Joseph Banks
, intervened at the Royal Society
to obtain him two inclining compasses that had belonged to Cook, and Monneron also bought scientific instruments figuring on a list produced by Fleurieu
, having recourse to the largest English firms, particularly Ramsden
. He even surpassed Fleurieu's directives by acquiring two sextants of a new type.
, a geologist; La Martinière
, a botanist; a physicist; three naturalists; and three illustrators, Gaspard Duché de Vancy
and an uncle and nephew named Prévost
. Another of the scientists was Jean-André Mongez
. Even both chaplains were scientifically schooled.
One of the men who applied for the voyage was a 16-year-old Corsican named Napoléon Bonaparte
. Bonaparte, a second lieutenant from Paris's military academy at the time, made the preliminary list but he was ultimately not chosen for the voyage list and remained behind in France. At the time Bonaparte was interested in serving in the navy rather than army because of his proficiency in mathematics and artillery, both valued skills on warships.
Copying the work methods of Cook's scientists, the scientists on this voyage would base their calculations of longitude on precision watches and the distance between the moon and the sun followed by theodolite triangulations or bearings taken from the ship, the same as those taken by Cook to produce his maps of the Pacific islands. As regards geography, Lapérouse decisively showed the rigour and safety of the methods proven by Cook. From his voyage, the resolution of the problem of longitude was evident and mapping attained a scientific precision. Impeded (as Cook had been) by the continual mists enveloping the northwestern coast of America, he nevertheless did not succeed any better in producing complete maps, though he managed to fill in some of the gaps.
Lapérouse and his 220 men left Brest
on 1 August 1785, rounded Cape Horn
, investigated the Spanish colonial government
in the Captaincy General of Chile. He arrived on 9 April 1786 at Easter Island
He then sailed to the Sandwich Islands, present day Hawaiian Islands
, where he became the first European to set foot on the island of Maui
.
, where he landed near Mount St. Elias in late June 1786 and explored the environs. On 13 July 1786 a barge and two longboats, carrying 21 men, were lost in the heavy currents of the bay called Port des Français by Lapérouse, but now known as Lituya Bay
. The men visited with the Tlingit tribe. Next, he headed south, exploring the northwest coast, including the outer islands of present day British Columbia
Province, present day California
. He reportedly observed the only historical eruption of Mount Shasta
on 7 September 1786, although this account is disputed. He arrived in Monterey Bay
and at the Presidio of Monterey
on 14 September 1786. He examined the Spanish pueblo
settlements, ranchos
, and Las Californias missions
. He made critical notes on the missionary treatment
of the California indigenous peoples
with the Indian Reductions
at the Franciscan
run missions.
in 100 days, arriving at Macau
, where he sold the furs acquired in Alaska
, dividing the profits among his men. The next year, on 9 April 1787, after a visit to Manila
, he set out for the northeast Asian coasts. He saw the island of Quelpart, present day Cheju
, which had been visited by Europeans only once before when a group of Dutchmen shipwrecked there in 1635. He visited the Asian mainland coasts of Korea
.
and Oku-Yeso Island, present day Sakhalin Island
, Russia. The Ainu people
, Oku-Yeso Island residents, drew him a map showing: their second domain of Yezo Island, present day Hokkaidō
Island, Japan
; and the coasts of Tartary
, Russia on mainland Asia. Lapérouse wanted to sail north through the narrow Strait of Tartary
between Oku-Yeso Island and mainland Asia but failed. Instead he turned south, and then sailed west through La Pérouse Strait
, between Oku-Yeso Island (Sakhalin) and (Hokkaidō), where he met more Ainu in their third domain of the Kuril Islands
(Japan), and explored.
Lapérouse then sailed north and reached Petropavlovsk
on the Russian Kamchatka peninsula
on 7 September 1787. Here they rested from their trip, and enjoyed the hospitality of the Russians and Kamchatkans. In letters received from Paris Lapérouse was ordered to investigate the settlement the British were establishing in New South Wales
, Australia. Barthélemy de Lesseps
, the French vice consul at Kronstadt, Russia that had joined the expedition as an interpreter, disembarked in Petropavlovsk to bring the expedition's ships' logs, charts, and letters to France
, which he reached after a year-long, epic journey across Siberia
and Russia
.
), on 6 December 1787. Just before he left, the Samoans attacked a group of his men, killing twelve of them, among whom were Lamanon and de Langle
, commander of the Astrolabe. Twenty men were wounded. The expedition sailed to Tonga
.
, arriving off Botany Bay
on 24 January 1788, just as Captain Arthur Phillip
was attempting to move the colony from there to Sydney Cove
in Port Jackson
. The First Fleet
was unable to leave until 26 January because of a tremendous gale, which also prevented Lapérouse's ships from entering Botany Bay.
The British received him courteously, and each captain, through their officers, offered the other any assistance and needed supplies. He and Phillip did not meet personally, however.
Lapérouse took the opportunity to send his journals, some charts and also some letters back to Europe with a British naval ship from the First Fleet—the Sirius
. He also obtained wood and fresh water and, on 10 March, left for New Caledonia
, Santa Cruz
, the Solomons
, the Louisiades
, and the western and southern coasts of Australia
.
Lapérouse wrote that he expected to be back in France by June 1789, however neither he, nor any of his men, were seen again. Fortunately the valuable written documents that he dispatched with the Sirius from the in-progress expedition were returned to Paris
, where they were published posthumously.
departed Brest in search of Lapérouse. His expedition followed Lapérouse's proposed path through the islands northwest of Australia while at the same time making scientific and geographic discoveries.
In May 1793, he arrived at the island of Vanikoro, which is part of the Santa Cruz group of islands. D'Entrecasteaux thought he saw smoke signals from several elevated areas on the island, but was unable to investigate due to the dangerous reefs surrounding the island and had to leave. He died two months later. The botanist Jacques Labillardière
, attached to the expedition, eventually returned to France and published his account, Relation du Voyage à la Recherche de la Pérouse
, in 1800.
, found enough evidence to piece together the events of the tragedy. In Tikopia
(one of the islands of Santa Cruz), he bought some swords that he had reason to believe had belonged to Lapérouse or his officers. He made enquiries, and found that they came from nearby Vanikoro
, where two big ships had broken up years earlier. Dillon managed to obtain a ship in Bengal
, and sailed for the coral atoll of Vanikoro
where he found cannon balls, anchors and other evidence of the remains of ships in water between coral reefs.
He brought several of these artifacts back to Europe, as did Dumont d'Urville
in 1828. De Lesseps, the only member of the original expedition still alive at the time, identified them as all belonging to the Astrolabe. From the information Dillon received from the people on Vanikoro, a rough reconstruction could be made of the disaster that struck Lapérouse. Dillon's reconstruction was later confirmed by the discovery, and subsequent examination in 1964, of what was believed to be the shipwreck of the Boussole. (See below.)
The 2008 expedition showed the commitment of France, in conjunction with the New Caledonian 'Association Salomon', to seek further answers about Lapérouse's mysterious fate. It received the patronage of the President of France as well as the support and co-operation of the French Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, and the Ministry of Culture and Communication.
Preparation for this, the eighth expedition sent to Vanikoro, took 24 months. It brought together more technological resources than previously and involved two ships, 52 crew members and almost 30 scientists and researchers. On 16 September 2008, two French Navy boats set out for Vanikoro from Nouméa (New Caledonia) and arrived on 15 October, thus recreating a section of the final voyage of discovery undertaken more than 200 years earlier by Lapérouse.
There is a chance that one or more of the survivors was rescued in 1791.
In November 1790, Captain Edward Edwards—in command of HMS Pandora—had sailed from England with orders to comb the Pacific for the mutineers of HMS Bounty. In March of the following year, the Pandora arrived at Tahiti
and picked up 14 Bounty men who had stayed on that island. Although some of the 14 had not joined the mutiny, all were imprisoned and shackled in a cramped "cage" built on the deck, which the men grimly nicknamed "Pandora's Box". The Pandora then left Tahiti in search of the Bounty and the leader of the mutiny, Fletcher Christian
.
Captain Edwards' search for the remaining mutineers ultimately proved fruitless. However, when passing Vanikoro on 13 August 1791, smoke signals were observed rising from the island. Edwards, single-minded in his search for the Bounty and convinced that mutineers fearful of discovery would not be advertising their whereabouts, ignored the smoke signals and sailed on.
Sven Wahlroos, in his 1989 book, "Mutiny and Romance in the South Seas", suggests that the smoke signals were almost certainly a distress message sent by survivors of the Lapérouse expedition, which later evidence indicated were still alive on Vanikoro at that time—three years after the Boussole and Astrolabe had foundered. Wahlroos is "virtually certain" that Captain Edwards, whom he characterizes as one of England's most "ruthless," "inhuman," "callous" and "incompetent" naval captains, missed his chance to become "one of the heroes of maritime history" by solving the mystery of the lost Lapérouse expedition.
Places named in his honour include:
The Micronesian Scrubfowl
(Megapodius laperouse) is also named after Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse. The species is currently classified as endangered because it has a very small range, restricted to isolated undisturbed offshore islets. Megapodius laperouse occurs on Palau and the Northern Mariana Islands (to USA), and is extirpated from Guam (to USA)
by Jules Verne
. Laperouse was also mentioned in an episode ("The Quest") of the series Northern Exposure
where the character Joel (Rob Morrow
) finds an old chart of the French explorer that will lead to a legendary "jewelled city of the North" (New York
).
History of the French Navy
Although the History of the French Navy goes back to the Middle Ages, its history can be said to effectively begin with Richelieu under Louis XIII.Since the establishment of her present territory, France had to face three major challenges on the naval level:...
officer and explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
.
Early career
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Lapérouse was the name of a family property that he added to his name. He studied in a Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
college and entered the naval college in Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
when he was fifteen. In 1757 he was posted to the Célèbre and participated in a supply expedition to the fort of Louisbourg in New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
; its position is in present-day Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. Lapérouse also was in a second supply expedition in 1758 to Louisbourg
Siege of Louisbourg (1758)
The Siege of Louisbourg was a pivotal battle of the Seven Years' War in 1758 which ended the French colonial era in Atlantic Canada and led directly to the loss of Quebec in 1759 and the remainder of French North America the following year.-Background:The British government realized that with the...
, but that was in the early years of the seven years' war; the fort was under siege and the expedition was forced to make a circuitous route around Newfoundland to avoid British patrols.
In 1759 Lapérouse was wounded in the Battle of Quiberon Bay
Battle of Quiberon Bay
The naval Battle of Quiberon Bay took place on 20 November 1759 during the Seven Years' War in Quiberon Bay, off the coast of France near St. Nazaire...
, where he was serving aboard the Formidable. He was captured and briefly imprisoned before being paroled back to France; he was formally exchanged in December 1760. He participated in a 1762 attempt by the French to gain control of Newfoundland, escaping with the fleet when the British arrived in force to drive them out.
Following the Franco-American alliance
Franco-American alliance
The Franco-American alliance refers to the 1778 alliance between Louis XVI's France and the United States, during the American Revolutionary War. Formalized in the 1778 Treaty of Alliance, it was a military pact in which France provided arms and money, and engaged in full-scale war with Britain. ...
, Lapérouse fought against the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
off the American coast, and victoriously led the frigate Astree in the Naval battle of Louisbourg, 21 July 1781. He was promoted to rank of commodore
Commodore (rank)
Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...
when he defeated the English frigate Ariel in the West Indies. In August 1782 he made his name by capturing two English forts
Hudson Bay Expedition
The Hudson Bay expedition of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse was a series of military raids on the lucrative fur trading posts and fortifications of the Hudson's Bay Company on the shores of Hudson Bay by a squadron of the French Royal Navy...
(Prince of Wales Fort
Prince of Wales Fort
The Prince of Wales Fort is a historic fort on Hudson Bay across the Churchill River from Churchill, Manitoba, Canada.-History:The European history of this area starts with the discovery of Hudson Bay in 1610. The area was recognized as important in the fur trade and of potential importance for...
and York Fort) on the coast of Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
, but allowed the survivors, including Governor Samuel Hearne
Samuel Hearne
Samuel Hearne was a an English explorer, fur-trader, author, and naturalist. He was the first European to make an overland excursion across northern Canada to the Arctic Ocean, actually Coronation Gulf, via the Coppermine River...
of Prince of Wales Fort, to sail off to England in exchange for a promise to release French prisoners held in England. The next year his family finally consented to his marriage to Louise-Eléonore Broudou, a young creole of modest origins whom he met on Ile de France
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
(present-day Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
).
Scientific expedition - around the world
Objectives
After the 1783 Treaty of ParisTreaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...
, Lapérouse was appointed in 1785 by Louis XVI and his Minister of the Marine, the Marquis de Castries, to lead an expedition around the world. Louis XVI and his court had been stimulated by a proposal from the merchant adventurer William Bolts
William Bolts
William Bolts was a private merchant of Dutch origin known for his book, The Considerations on Indian Affairs , which detailed the exploitation and despoiling of Bengal by the East India Company and its officials which began shortly after the Battle of Plassey in 1757.-Biography:Bolts came to...
, who had earlier tried unsuccessfully to interest Louis’s brother-in-law, the Austrian Emperor Joseph II (brother of Queen Marie Antoinette), in a similar voyage. The French court adopted the concept (though not its author, Bolts), leading to the dispatch of the Lapérouse expedition. Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu, Directeur des Ports et Arsenaux, stated in the draft of the memorandum on the expedition he submitted to the King: “the utility which may result from a voyage of discovery ... has made me receptive to the views put to me by Mr. Bolts relative to this enterprise”. But, Fleurieu explained to the King: “I am not proposing at all, however, the plan for this voyage as it was conceived by Mr. Bolts”. Its aims were to complete the Pacific discoveries of James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
(whom Lapérouse greatly admired), correct and complete maps of the area, establish trade contacts, open new maritime routes and enrich French science and scientific collections. His ships were the Astrolabe
French ship Astrolabe (1781)
The Astrolabe was a converted fluyt of the French Navy, famous for her travels with Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse.She departed Brest on 1 August 1785 under Paul Antoine Fleuriot de Langle, along with the Boussole under La Pérouse....
(under Fleuriot de Langle) and the Boussole
French ship Boussole (1781)
Boussole was a ship of the French Navy, famous for its exploration of the Pacific with Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse.It departed Brest on 1 August 1785 under La Pérouse, accompanied by the Astrolabe under Paul Antoine Fleuriot de Langle.The expedition vanished mysteriously in 1788...
, both 500 tons. They were storeships, reclassified as frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
s for the occasion. Their objectives were geographic, scientific, ethnological, economic (looking for possibilities of whaling or fur trading), and political (the eventual establishment of French bases or colonial cooperation with their Spanish allies in the Philippines). They were to explore both the north and south Pacific, including the coasts of the Far East and of Australia, and send back reports through existing European outposts in the area.
Preparations
As early as March 1785, Lapérouse proposed that Paul MonneronPaul Mérault Monneron
Paul Mérault Monneron or de Monneron was an engineer officer in the French armed forces and from 1785 to 1788 a member of Lapérouse's expedition.- Family :...
, who had been chosen as the expedition's chief engineer, go to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to find out about the latest conclusions on the anti-scurvy
Scurvy
Scurvy is a disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C, which is required for the synthesis of collagen in humans. The chemical name for vitamin C, ascorbic acid, is derived from the Latin name of scurvy, scorbutus, which also provides the adjective scorbutic...
measures recommended by Cook and the exchange items used by Cook in his dealings with the native peoples, and to buy scientific instruments of English manufacture.
The best-known figure on Cook's mission, Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...
, intervened at the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
to obtain him two inclining compasses that had belonged to Cook, and Monneron also bought scientific instruments figuring on a list produced by Fleurieu
Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu
Charles Pierre Claret, comte de Fleurieu was a French explorer, hydrographer and politician. He was Minister of the Navy under Louis XVI, and a member of the Institut de France, as well as the brother of the botanist Marc Antoine Louis Claret de la Tourette.-Ancien Regime:Fleurieu was born in Lyon...
, having recourse to the largest English firms, particularly Ramsden
Jesse Ramsden
Jesse Ramsden FRSE was an English astronomical and scientific instrument maker.Ramsden was born at Salterhebble, Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. After serving his apprenticeship with a cloth-worker in Halifax, he went in 1755 to London, where in 1758 he was apprenticed to a...
. He even surpassed Fleurieu's directives by acquiring two sextants of a new type.
Crew
Lapérouse was well liked by his men. Among his 114-man crew there were ten scientists: Dagelet, an astronomer and mathematician; Robert de LamanonRobert de Lamanon
Jean Honoré Robert de Paul de Lamanon, known as Robert de Lamanon was a French botanist, physician and meteorologist. He joined several scientific expeditions and eventually died on one .-Family:He belonged to the lordly family of Lamanon, ennobled in 1572...
, a geologist; La Martinière
Joseph Hugues Boissieu La Martinière
Joseph Hughes de Boissieu La Martinière, also called Joseph La Martinière was a French botanist and biologist...
, a botanist; a physicist; three naturalists; and three illustrators, Gaspard Duché de Vancy
Gaspard Duché de Vancy
Gaspard Duchè de Vancy was a French artist of the 18th century. He grew up in Vienna and exhibited not only at Paris's Salon of Young Artists but also at London's Royal Academy...
and an uncle and nephew named Prévost
Prevost
-People:*Abbé Antoine François Prévost , French novelist*André Prévost , Canadian composer*Augustine Prevost , British general*Constant Prévost , French geologist*Daniel Prevost, writer*Daniel Prévost, French actor...
. Another of the scientists was Jean-André Mongez
Jean-André Mongez
Jean-André Mongez was a French priest and mineralogist. He died at Vanikoro, on the La Pérouse expedition.-Life:Mongez was born in Lyon...
. Even both chaplains were scientifically schooled.
One of the men who applied for the voyage was a 16-year-old Corsican named Napoléon Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
. Bonaparte, a second lieutenant from Paris's military academy at the time, made the preliminary list but he was ultimately not chosen for the voyage list and remained behind in France. At the time Bonaparte was interested in serving in the navy rather than army because of his proficiency in mathematics and artillery, both valued skills on warships.
Copying the work methods of Cook's scientists, the scientists on this voyage would base their calculations of longitude on precision watches and the distance between the moon and the sun followed by theodolite triangulations or bearings taken from the ship, the same as those taken by Cook to produce his maps of the Pacific islands. As regards geography, Lapérouse decisively showed the rigour and safety of the methods proven by Cook. From his voyage, the resolution of the problem of longitude was evident and mapping attained a scientific precision. Impeded (as Cook had been) by the continual mists enveloping the northwestern coast of America, he nevertheless did not succeed any better in producing complete maps, though he managed to fill in some of the gaps.
Chile and Hawaii
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
on 1 August 1785, rounded Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
, investigated the Spanish colonial government
Spanish colonization of the Americas
Colonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions...
in the Captaincy General of Chile. He arrived on 9 April 1786 at Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
He then sailed to the Sandwich Islands, present day Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
, where he became the first European to set foot on the island of Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
.
Alaska
Lapérouse sailed on to AlaskaAlaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, where he landed near Mount St. Elias in late June 1786 and explored the environs. On 13 July 1786 a barge and two longboats, carrying 21 men, were lost in the heavy currents of the bay called Port des Français by Lapérouse, but now known as Lituya Bay
Lituya Bay
Lituya Bay is a fjord located on the coast of the Southeast part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is long and wide at its widest point. The bay was noted in 1786 by Jean-François de La Pérouse, who named it Port des Français...
. The men visited with the Tlingit tribe. Next, he headed south, exploring the northwest coast, including the outer islands of present day British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
California
Lapérouse sailed during August 10–30 all the way south to the Spanish Las CaliforniasLas Californias
The Californias, or in — - was the name given by the Spanish to their northwestern territory of New Spain, comprising the present day states of Baja California and Baja California Sur on the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico; and the present day U.S. state of California in the United States of...
Province, present day California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He reportedly observed the only historical eruption of Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta is located at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California and at is the second highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth highest in California...
on 7 September 1786, although this account is disputed. He arrived in Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, along the central coast of California. The bay is south of San Francisco and San Jose, between the cities of Santa Cruz and Monterey....
and at the Presidio of Monterey
Presidio of Monterey, California
The Presidio of Monterey, located in Monterey, California, is an active US Army installation with historic ties to the Spanish colonial era. Currently it is the home of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center .-Spanish fort:...
on 14 September 1786. He examined the Spanish pueblo
Pueblo
Pueblo is a term used to describe modern communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern United States of America. The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment-like structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material...
settlements, ranchos
Ranchos of California
The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...
, and Las Californias missions
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
. He made critical notes on the missionary treatment
California mission clash of cultures
The California mission clash of cultures occurred at the Spanish Missions in California during the Spanish Las Californias-New Spain and Mexican Alta California eras of control, with lasting consequences after American statehood...
of the California indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples of California
The Indigenous peoples of California are the indigenous inhabitants who have lived or currently live in the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and after the arrival of Europeans. With over one hundred federally recognized tribes, California has the largest Native...
with the Indian Reductions
Indian Reductions
Reductions were settlements founded by the Spanish colonizers of the New World with the purpose of assimilating indigenous populations into European culture and religion.Already since the beginning of the Spanish presence in the Americas, the Crown had been concerned...
at the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
run missions.
East Asia
Lapérouse again crossed the Pacific OceanPacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
in 100 days, arriving at Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
, where he sold the furs acquired in Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, dividing the profits among his men. The next year, on 9 April 1787, after a visit to Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, he set out for the northeast Asian coasts. He saw the island of Quelpart, present day Cheju
Jeju-do
Jeju-do is the only special autonomous province of South Korea, situated on and coterminous with the country's largest island. Jeju-do lies in the Korea Strait, southwest of Jeollanam-do Province, of which it was a part before it became a separate province in 1946...
, which had been visited by Europeans only once before when a group of Dutchmen shipwrecked there in 1635. He visited the Asian mainland coasts of Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
.
Japan and Russia
Lapérouse then sailed northward to Northeast AsiaNortheast Asia
Northeast Asia and Northeastern Asia refers to the northeastern subregion of Asia. Though the precise definition of Northeast Asia changes according to context, it always includes Japan and the Korean Peninsula, and is sometimes used to refer to these two regions exclusively.-Definitions:The...
and Oku-Yeso Island, present day Sakhalin Island
Sakhalin
Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...
, Russia. The Ainu people
Ainu people
The , also called Aynu, Aino , and in historical texts Ezo , are indigenous people or groups in Japan and Russia. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin...
, Oku-Yeso Island residents, drew him a map showing: their second domain of Yezo Island, present day Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
Island, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
; and the coasts of Tartary
Tartary
Tartary or Great Tartary was a name used by Europeans from the Middle Ages until the twentieth century to designate the Great Steppe, that is the great tract of northern and central Asia stretching from the Caspian Sea and the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean inhabited mostly by Turkic, Mongol...
, Russia on mainland Asia. Lapérouse wanted to sail north through the narrow Strait of Tartary
Strait of Tartary
Strait of Tartary is a strait in the Pacific Ocean dividing the Russian island of Sakhalin from mainland Asia , connecting the Sea of Okhotsk on the north with...
between Oku-Yeso Island and mainland Asia but failed. Instead he turned south, and then sailed west through La Pérouse Strait
La Perouse Strait
La Pérouse Strait is a strait dividing the southern part of the Russian island of Sakhalin from the northern part of the Japanese island of Hokkaidō, and connecting the Sea of Japan on the west with the Sea of Okhotsk on the east....
, between Oku-Yeso Island (Sakhalin) and (Hokkaidō), where he met more Ainu in their third domain of the Kuril Islands
Kuril Islands
The Kuril Islands , in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater...
(Japan), and explored.
Lapérouse then sailed north and reached Petropavlovsk
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is the main city and the administrative, industrial, scientific, and cultural center of Kamchatka Krai, Russia. Population: .-History:It was founded by Danish navigator Vitus Bering, in the service of the Russian Navy...
on the Russian Kamchatka peninsula
Kamchatka Peninsula
The Kamchatka Peninsula is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of . It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west...
on 7 September 1787. Here they rested from their trip, and enjoyed the hospitality of the Russians and Kamchatkans. In letters received from Paris Lapérouse was ordered to investigate the settlement the British were establishing in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia. Barthélemy de Lesseps
Barthélemy de Lesseps
Jean-Baptiste Barthélemy de Lesseps was a French diplomat and writer, member of the scientific expedition of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse and uncle of Ferdinand de Lesseps.-Family and early career:His childhood was spent in Hamburg and then St...
, the French vice consul at Kronstadt, Russia that had joined the expedition as an interpreter, disembarked in Petropavlovsk to bring the expedition's ships' logs, charts, and letters to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, which he reached after a year-long, epic journey across Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
South Pacific
Lapérouse next stopped in the Navigator Islands (SamoaSamoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
), on 6 December 1787. Just before he left, the Samoans attacked a group of his men, killing twelve of them, among whom were Lamanon and de Langle
Paul Antoine Fleuriot de Langle
Paul Antoine Fleuriot de Langle was a French vicomte, académicien de marine, naval commander and explorer. He was second in command of the La Pérouse expedition, which departed France on 1 August 1785 and was eventually lost in the Pacific...
, commander of the Astrolabe. Twenty men were wounded. The expedition sailed to Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
.
Australia
The expedition continued to AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, arriving off Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
on 24 January 1788, just as Captain Arthur Phillip
Arthur Phillip
Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...
was attempting to move the colony from there to Sydney Cove
Sydney Cove
Sydney Cove is a small bay on the southern shore of Port Jackson , on the coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia....
in Port Jackson
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
. The First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
was unable to leave until 26 January because of a tremendous gale, which also prevented Lapérouse's ships from entering Botany Bay.
The British received him courteously, and each captain, through their officers, offered the other any assistance and needed supplies. He and Phillip did not meet personally, however.
Lapérouse took the opportunity to send his journals, some charts and also some letters back to Europe with a British naval ship from the First Fleet—the Sirius
HMS Sirius (1786)
HMS Sirius was the flagship of the First Fleet, which set out from Portsmouth, England, in 1787 to establish the first European colony in New South Wales, Australia. Sirius was wrecked off the coast of Norfolk Island in the Pacific Ocean in 1790....
. He also obtained wood and fresh water and, on 10 March, left for New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Islands
The Santa Cruz Islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands. They lie approximately 250 miles to the southeast of the Solomon Islands Chain...
, the Solomons
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
, the Louisiades
Louisiade Archipelago
The Louisiade Archipelago is a string of ten larger volcanic islands frequently fringed by coral reefs, and 90 smaller coral islands located 200 km southeast of New Guinea, stretching over more than and spread over an ocean area of between the Solomon Sea to the north and the Coral Sea to...
, and the western and southern coasts of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Lapérouse wrote that he expected to be back in France by June 1789, however neither he, nor any of his men, were seen again. Fortunately the valuable written documents that he dispatched with the Sirius from the in-progress expedition were returned to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where they were published posthumously.
Rescue mission of D'Entrecasteaux
On 25 September 1791 Rear Admiral Bruni d'EntrecasteauxBruni d'Entrecasteaux
Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni d'Entrecasteaux was a French navigator who explored the Australian coast in 1792 while seeking traces of the lost expedition of La Pérouse....
departed Brest in search of Lapérouse. His expedition followed Lapérouse's proposed path through the islands northwest of Australia while at the same time making scientific and geographic discoveries.
In May 1793, he arrived at the island of Vanikoro, which is part of the Santa Cruz group of islands. D'Entrecasteaux thought he saw smoke signals from several elevated areas on the island, but was unable to investigate due to the dangerous reefs surrounding the island and had to leave. He died two months later. The botanist Jacques Labillardière
Jacques Labillardière
Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière was a French naturalist noted for his descriptions of the flora of Australia. Labillardière was a member of a voyage in search of the La Pérouse expedition...
, attached to the expedition, eventually returned to France and published his account, Relation du Voyage à la Recherche de la Pérouse
Relation du Voyage à la Recherche de la Pérouse
Relation du Voyage à la Recherche de la Pérouse is a book , issued in 1800, that gives an account of the 1791-1793 d'Entrecasteaux expedition to Australasia. The title refers to the search for La Pérouse, who disappeared in the region in 1788, a popular, though unsuccessful, object of the mission...
, in 1800.
Discovery of the expedition
1826 expedition
It was not until 1826 that an Irish sea captain, Peter DillonPeter Dillon
Peter Dillon was a sandalwood trader, self-proclaimed explorer, raconteur, and discoverer of the fate of the La Pérouse expedition.-Early career:...
, found enough evidence to piece together the events of the tragedy. In Tikopia
Tikopia
Tikopia is a small and high island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Covering an area of 5 km² , the island is the remnant of an extinct volcano. Its highest point, Mt. Reani, reaches an elevation of 380 m above sea level. Lake Te Roto covers an old volcanic crater which is 80 m...
(one of the islands of Santa Cruz), he bought some swords that he had reason to believe had belonged to Lapérouse or his officers. He made enquiries, and found that they came from nearby Vanikoro
Vanikoro
Vanikoro is an island from the Santa Cruz group, located 118 km to the Southeast of the main Santa Cruz group. It belongs administratively to the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands....
, where two big ships had broken up years earlier. Dillon managed to obtain a ship in Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, and sailed for the coral atoll of Vanikoro
Vanikoro
Vanikoro is an island from the Santa Cruz group, located 118 km to the Southeast of the main Santa Cruz group. It belongs administratively to the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands....
where he found cannon balls, anchors and other evidence of the remains of ships in water between coral reefs.
He brought several of these artifacts back to Europe, as did Dumont d'Urville
Jules Dumont d'Urville
Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville was a French explorer, naval officer and rear admiral, who explored the south and western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica.-Childhood:Dumont was born at Condé-sur-Noireau...
in 1828. De Lesseps, the only member of the original expedition still alive at the time, identified them as all belonging to the Astrolabe. From the information Dillon received from the people on Vanikoro, a rough reconstruction could be made of the disaster that struck Lapérouse. Dillon's reconstruction was later confirmed by the discovery, and subsequent examination in 1964, of what was believed to be the shipwreck of the Boussole. (See below.)
2005 expedition
In May 2005, the shipwreck examined in 1964 was formally identified as that of the Boussole. The 2005 expedition had embarked aboard Jacques Cartier, a French naval vessel. The ship supported a multi-discipline scientific team assembled to investigate the "Mystery of Lapérouse". The mission was called "Opération Vanikoro-Sur les traces des épaves de Lapérouse 2005".2008 expedition
A further similar mission was mounted in 2008.The 2008 expedition showed the commitment of France, in conjunction with the New Caledonian 'Association Salomon', to seek further answers about Lapérouse's mysterious fate. It received the patronage of the President of France as well as the support and co-operation of the French Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, and the Ministry of Culture and Communication.
Preparation for this, the eighth expedition sent to Vanikoro, took 24 months. It brought together more technological resources than previously and involved two ships, 52 crew members and almost 30 scientists and researchers. On 16 September 2008, two French Navy boats set out for Vanikoro from Nouméa (New Caledonia) and arrived on 15 October, thus recreating a section of the final voyage of discovery undertaken more than 200 years earlier by Lapérouse.
The saga
Both ships had been wrecked on Vanikoro's reefs, the Boussole first. The Astrolabe was unloaded and taken apart. A group of men, probably the survivors of the Boussole, was massacred by the local inhabitants. According to the islanders, some surviving sailors built a two-masted craft from the wreckage of the Astrolabe and left in a westward direction about nine months later; but what happened to them is unknown. Also, two men, one a "chief" and the other his servant, had remained behind, but had left Vanikoro a few years before Dillon arrived.There is a chance that one or more of the survivors was rescued in 1791.
In November 1790, Captain Edward Edwards—in command of HMS Pandora—had sailed from England with orders to comb the Pacific for the mutineers of HMS Bounty. In March of the following year, the Pandora arrived at Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
and picked up 14 Bounty men who had stayed on that island. Although some of the 14 had not joined the mutiny, all were imprisoned and shackled in a cramped "cage" built on the deck, which the men grimly nicknamed "Pandora's Box". The Pandora then left Tahiti in search of the Bounty and the leader of the mutiny, Fletcher Christian
Fletcher Christian
Fletcher Christian was a master's mate on board the Bounty during William Bligh's fateful voyage to Tahiti for breadfruit plants...
.
Captain Edwards' search for the remaining mutineers ultimately proved fruitless. However, when passing Vanikoro on 13 August 1791, smoke signals were observed rising from the island. Edwards, single-minded in his search for the Bounty and convinced that mutineers fearful of discovery would not be advertising their whereabouts, ignored the smoke signals and sailed on.
Sven Wahlroos, in his 1989 book, "Mutiny and Romance in the South Seas", suggests that the smoke signals were almost certainly a distress message sent by survivors of the Lapérouse expedition, which later evidence indicated were still alive on Vanikoro at that time—three years after the Boussole and Astrolabe had foundered. Wahlroos is "virtually certain" that Captain Edwards, whom he characterizes as one of England's most "ruthless," "inhuman," "callous" and "incompetent" naval captains, missed his chance to become "one of the heroes of maritime history" by solving the mystery of the lost Lapérouse expedition.
Places named after Lapérouse
- La Perouse Bay near Fort Prince of Wales, Manitoba, Canada
- Mount La Perouse (3231 m) and La Perouse Glacier, Fairweather RangeFairweather RangeThe Fairweather Range is the unofficial name for a mountain range located in the U.S. state of Alaska and the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the southernmost range of the Saint Elias Mountains...
, AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait... - Mount La Pérouse (1127 m) on the Queen Charlotte IslandsQueen Charlotte IslandsHaida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...
of British ColumbiaBritish ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858... - La Pérouse Reef off the west coast of the Queen Charlotte IslandsQueen Charlotte IslandsHaida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...
of British ColumbiaBritish ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858... - La Perouse Bank, Off the West Coast of Vancouver Island / West of Ucluelet/Tofino. This is the site of Environment Canada weather buoy 46026, at location 48.83N 126.00W
- La Perouse StraitLa Perouse StraitLa Pérouse Strait is a strait dividing the southern part of the Russian island of Sakhalin from the northern part of the Japanese island of Hokkaidō, and connecting the Sea of Japan on the west with the Sea of Okhotsk on the east....
between HokkaidōHokkaido, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
and SakhalinSakhalinSakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast... - La PerouseLa Perouse, New South WalesLapérouse is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The suburb of Lapérouse is located about 14 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the City of Randwick....
, a suburb of SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia, on the northern headland of Botany BayBotany BayBotany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay... - Mount La Perouse (1157 m) and the La Perouse Range, TasmaniaTasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, Australia - La Perouse Pinnacle (37 m), in the French Frigate ShoalsFrench Frigate ShoalsThe French Frigate Shoals is the largest atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Its name commemorates French explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse, who nearly lost two frigates when attempting to navigate the shoals...
, Hawaii - La Perouse (mountain) (3078 m), in New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's Southern AlpsSouthern AlpsThe Southern Alps is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the island's western side... - La Perouse Glacier, Westland, New Zealand
- Lapérouse Bay, North coast of Easter IslandEaster IslandEaster Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
- La Perouse BayLa Perouse BayLa Perouse Bay is located south of the town of Wailea-Makena, Hawaii at the end of Makena Alanui Road at . The bay's Hawaiian name is Keoneoio....
, site of his landing on MauiMauiThe island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,... - La Pérouse (crater)La Pérouse (crater)La Pérouse is a lunar impact crater that is located near the eastern limb of the Moon. It lies northwest of the larger crater Ansgarius, and to the east of Kapteyn. This crater appears foreshortened due to its location, but the rim is nearly circular when viewed from orbit.The rim of La Pérouse is...
, on the MoonMoonThe Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more... - Musée Lapérouse, the Lapérouse Museum in Albi Musée Lapérouse-Lapérouse Museum in Albi
- The Association Lapérouse, Albi France in Albi, France Association Lapérouse, Composition actuelle du Bureau de l’Association
- Lycee Lapérouse, Nouméa. A school named after Laperouse in the South Pacific
- Lycée Général Lapérouse, a school in the city of Albi, France
- Lycée Français La PérouseLycée Français La PérouseThe Lycée Français La Pérouse is a total immersion French language school based in San Francisco, California which allows students to study for the French baccalauréat and the American high school diploma. The program is based on the French national curriculum augmented by courses in English in...
, a total immersion French languageFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
school in San Francisco, California - Lapérouse Square in Albi France
- Cinéma Cinemovida le Laperouse, a movie theatre in rue Sere-de-Rivieres, Albi, France
- Restaurant Lapérouse, at 51, quai des Grands Augustins, Paris France. Founded in 1766 by Lefèvre, it was formerly known as 'Limonadier du Roy'. Situated in a townhouse on the left bank of the Seine river, across from the Palais de Justice near Notre Dame. Named in 1878 after the famous navigator Lapérouse
- Restaurant La Perouse in Bromont, QuebecBromont, QuebecBromont is a city in southwestern Quebec in Canada, 75 kilometres east of Montreal on Autoroute 10, bordering the Eastern Townships at the base of Mount Brome . The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 6,049....
, Canada
The Micronesian Scrubfowl
Micronesian Scrubfowl
The Micronesian Megapode or Micronesian Scrubfowl, Megapodius laperouse, is an endangered megapode which inhabits islands of the Western Pacific Ocean.-Description:...
(Megapodius laperouse) is also named after Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse. The species is currently classified as endangered because it has a very small range, restricted to isolated undisturbed offshore islets. Megapodius laperouse occurs on Palau and the Northern Mariana Islands (to USA), and is extirpated from Guam (to USA)
Current serving ships
- The Lapérouse class are Hydrographic survey ships of the French Navy. Three ships are currently active in the French Navy. One further ship of the class has been transferred to Patrol service duties (action de l'Etat en mer (AEM)).
- The Lapérouse A791 is a current serving ship of the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the French Navy. (Bâtiment hydrographique de deuxième classe (BH) - Service Hydrographique et Océanographique de la Marine-SHOM) is based at Brest, DCN Lorient. The ship was laid down on 11 June 1985, launched on 15 November 1985 and entered service in the Marine nationale as Lapérouse A791 on 20 April 1988.
Historic ships
- Laperouse, 1830-1875. The first ship to bear the explorers name was a 20 gun brig of 33.60m.
- LapérouseFrench cruiser LapérouseThe Lapérouse was a barbette cruiser of the French Navy, lead ship of her class, named after Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse....
, 1877–1898, served as a defensive cruiser in the French Navy. The Lapérouse was built at Brest, with work commencing in 1875, launched in 1877 and was subsequently wrecked in 1898 in the East Indies. The unarmoured cruisers of the Lapérouse class were wooden hulled ships with Iron beams. These ships had plough bows with a forecastle, a displacement of 2363 tons, a speed of 15 Knots and had a complement of 264 sailors. Armament was fifteen 5.5 inches (139.7 mm) M1870M guns later replaced in Primauget with Quick Firing Conversions. Each ship also had eight 1 pounder revolvers.
- Lapérouse, 1919–1945, 63m, with a displacement of 781 tons. Built in Brest in 1918 as a refrigerated transport type Coëtlogon (comme transport frigorifique du type Coëtlogon.). It was cut in half and lengthened by 12 meters to allow the ship to be converted to the hydrographic service role. The ship departed from Brest on 1 April 1921 with the Octant and the Astrolabe to a campaign of hydrography on the coasts of Algeria and Syria. Later assigned to the hydrographic mission in Indochina, these three units left Toulon in January 1922. The Hydrographic ship Lapérouse then worked on the coast and rivers of Annam, Tonkin. At the beginning of World War II the ship was in reserve at Saigon. On 6 April1940 it was called into service to support a group of minesweepers in Indochina and then subsequently scuttled by its commander on 3 December 1945 in Cantho.
- Lapérouse F750, 1947–1977, (possibly also known as La Pérouse, also carried the pennant A750 and A753). The ship was first laid down in 1937 as the AVS Sans-Peur, a marine aviation seaplane tender/tanker. Work ceased during hostilities with the ship 42% finished and it was abandoned on 19 June 1940 at Saint-Nazaire. The ship was taken over by the occupying Kriegmarine and the Germans completed the ship and 3 more of the same class laid down in the same yard. The Sans-Peur was launched as the SG4 Merkur and entered service in 1943 as a fast escort (escorteurs rapides). In 1945 the SG4 Merkur was surrendered in a reasonably intact condition and subsequently refitted then re-launched in 1947 as Lapérouse F750, a batiment hydrographique aviso hydrographic survey vessel. The vessel was assigned to the Mururoa test program in 1962 and later taken out of service, re-fitted and re-assigned in 1967 as Lapérouse F753, a bâtiment hydrographique de 2ème classe. The ship was subsequently withdrawn from service and placed in reserve then de-commissioned in 1977.
Museums
- L’Association Lapérouse Albi France, a pour objectif d’encourager et coordonner les activités et études consacrées au navigateur. Association Lapérouse is situated in Albi-France at Musée Lapérouse.
- Laperouse Museum, this Museum examines the expedition of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse through the Pacific between 1787-1788. The collection contains objects from the Laperouse wrecks and generic navigational and maritime history. 300 objects, 30 prints, 50 photographs (est). The museum is situated in Sydney Australia at the Kamay-Botany Bay National Park, Anzac Avenue, in the suburb of La Perouse.
- Musée Lapérouse, Square Botany Bay 41 rue Porta 81000, Albi (France).
Exhibitions
- L'association Salomon. Mystery of the disappearance of Monsieur de Lapérouse : Vanikoro wreckage - Hypothetical visit of New Caledonia-Wreckage of Jean-François de Galaup, count de Lapérouse. The mysteries of the wreckage, the survivors and of Lapérouse's probable landing in New Caledonia have led to a body of research since 1960. The "Association Salomon" started its own research in 1981 following espeditions initiated by Admiral de Brossard in the 1960s.
- A number of objects found at VanikoroVanikoroVanikoro is an island from the Santa Cruz group, located 118 km to the Southeast of the main Santa Cruz group. It belongs administratively to the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands....
are displayed at the Musée de l'Histoire maritime de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Nouméa. - "Objects Through Time". The Migration Heritage Centre at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney Australia.*The "Expedition Laperouse, The Road of the Echanges". Exposition Lapérouse is an exhibition copyrighted to the Ministère de la Défense, (French Ministry of the Defense) was held April 2 to June 26, 2005 at the Mussée of Maritime history of Nouméa.
- Musée Lapérouse. "Exposition temporaire consacrée à l’expédition Tara Artic", at Musée Lapérouse from 11 June to 19 September 2010.
- Western Australian Museum. Perth, Australia. on the Selection of Lapérouse by King Louis XVI to lead a major expedition of discovery.
- Le mystère Laperouse, The Lapérouse Mystery, at the Musée National de la Marine in Paris (L’exposition Lapérouse au Musée de la Marine-Exposition Le mystère Lapérouse opened on 19 March 2008) at France's Maritime Museum in Paris.
- "Monsieur de Lapérouse" at The Musée National de la Marine. Includes a marble bust of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, titled "Buste de Lapérouse" by François RudeFrançois RudeFrançois Rude was a French sculptor. He was the stepfather of Paul Cabet, a sculptor.Born in Dijon, he worked at his father's trade as a stovemaker till the age of sixteen, but received training in drawing from François Devosges, where he learned that a strong, simple contour was an invaluable...
, Marbre, L 84 x l. 66 x H 48 cm , N° inventaire : 41 OA 34, on display at the Palace of ChaillotTrocadéroThe Trocadéro, , site of the Palais de Chaillot, , is an area of Paris, France, in the 16th arrondissement, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. The hill of the Trocadéro is the hill of Chaillot, a former village.- Origin of the name :...
in Paris.
Laperouse in literature and film
The fate of Laperouse, his ships and his men is the subject of a chapter from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the SeaTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a classic science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne published in 1870. It tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus as seen from the perspective of Professor Pierre Aronnax...
by Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
. Laperouse was also mentioned in an episode ("The Quest") of the series Northern Exposure
Northern Exposure
Northern Exposure is an American television series that ran on CBS from 1990 to 1995, with a total of 110 episodes.-Overview:The series was given a pair of consecutive Peabody Awards: in 1991–92 for the show's "depict[ion] in a comedic and often poetic way, [of] the cultural clash between a...
where the character Joel (Rob Morrow
Rob Morrow
Robert Alan "Rob" Morrow is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Don Eppes on Numb3rs and as Dr. Joel Fleischman on Northern Exposure, a role which garnered him three Golden Globes and two Emmy Award nominations for "Best Actor in a Dramatic Series."-Personal life:Morrow was born in...
) finds an old chart of the French explorer that will lead to a legendary "jewelled city of the North" (New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
).
See also
- Age of DiscoveryAge of DiscoveryThe Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of Exploration and the Great Navigations , was a period in history starting in the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century during which Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the world, establishing direct contacts with...
- Age of enlightenmentAge of EnlightenmentThe Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
- Explorers
- French cruiser LapérouseFrench cruiser LapérouseThe Lapérouse was a barbette cruiser of the French Navy, lead ship of her class, named after Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse....
- History of the French NavyHistory of the French NavyAlthough the History of the French Navy goes back to the Middle Ages, its history can be said to effectively begin with Richelieu under Louis XIII.Since the establishment of her present territory, France had to face three major challenges on the naval level:...
- La Perouse StraitLa Perouse StraitLa Pérouse Strait is a strait dividing the southern part of the Russian island of Sakhalin from the northern part of the Japanese island of Hokkaidō, and connecting the Sea of Japan on the west with the Sea of Okhotsk on the east....
- La Perouse, New South WalesLa Perouse, New South WalesLapérouse is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The suburb of Lapérouse is located about 14 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the City of Randwick....
- Lapérouse A791
- List of current French Navy ships
- Micronesian MegapodeMicronesian MegapodeThe Micronesian Megapode or Micronesian Scrubfowl, Megapodius laperouse, is an endangered megapode which inhabits islands of the Western Pacific Ocean.-Description:...
- Zo d'AxaZo d'AxaAlphonse Gallaud de la Pérouse, better known as Zo d'Axa , was an adventurer, anti-militarist, satirist, journalist, and founder of two of the most legendary French magazines, L'EnDehors and La Feuille...
(Alphonse Gallaud de la Pérouse, anarchist and the EnDehorsEnDehorsL'EnDehors is a French individualist anarchist newspaper, created by Zo d'Axa in 1891.Numerous activists contributed to the paper, including Jean Grave, Bernard Lazare, Albert Libertad, Octave Mirbeau, Saint-Pol-Roux, Tristan Bernard, Georges Darien, Lucien Descaves, Sébastien Faure, Félix Fénéon,...
) - European and American voyages of scientific explorationEuropean and American voyages of scientific explorationThe era of European and American voyages of scientific exploration followed the Age of Discovery and were inspired by a new confidence in science and reason that arose in the Age of Enlightenment...
External links
- Archive.org The Commonwealth of Australia, Australian Federal Handbook 84th meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, held in Australia. August, 1914.
- Siskiyous.edu, English language bibliography with extensive references to Lapérouse both in translations to English and the citation of original French document sources spanning many decades.
- André Engels, Jean-François de Galoup, Comte de Lapérouse
- John Robson, La Perouse, Eighteenth Century French Sailor and leader of a Voyage into the Pacific
- see Lapérouse genealogy on samlap Geneanet
- Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
- La Pérouse in Port-des-Français (Alaska) and La Pérouse baptismal certificate (in French)