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Vue prise au Port Western dans la Crique des Mangliers
Vue prise au Port Western dans la Crique des Mangliers

Vue prise au Port Western dans la Crique des Mangliers

Artist (French, 1801 - 1887)
Lithographer (1803 - 1884)
Editor (French, 1787 - 1849)
Artist (1801-1866)
DateNovember 1826
Object number00006299
NameLithograph
MediumInk on paper
DimensionsOverall: 415 x 491 mm, 3 mm, 0.3 kg
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionLithograph, hand coloured and inscribed, `Vue Prise au Port Western, dans la crique des Mangliers' (View taken at Port Western in Mangliers Cove). Features the crew of the ASTROLABE hauling a seine in late afternoon at Western Port, Victoria in November 1826 during the visit of Dumont d'Urville's scientific expedition. Lithograph from the first edition (1833) of the 'Atlas Historique' illustrating d'Urville's first voyage on the ASTROLABEHistoryD’Urville arrived at Western Port, Victoria, on 12 November 1826 as part of his voyage of discovery aboard the ASTROLABE. They moored the vessel at Mangrove Creek and in the company of some local sealers, explored the local area including a point near the eastern entrance that Dumont D’Urville named Honeyeater Point. Over the next seven days the French collected specimens to take back to France and noted an extensive (40 or 50) number of abandoned huts belonging to the Bunurong (Boonerwrung) people. After this visit, the British, already fearful that the French had settlement plans of their own for the area, established the ill-fated Fort Dumaresq on 2 December 1826. SignificanceThis lithograph provides a visual record of one of the great French exploratory ventures of the nineteenth century (and, incidentally, one of the last). It is very important as a source in both the history of European world exploration and, more specifically, of the European relationship with Australia and its inhabitants.