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Voyage de d'Entrecasteaux, envoyé à la recherche de La Pérouse, Volume 2
Voyage de d'Entrecasteaux, envoyé à la recherche de La Pérouse, Volume 2

Voyage de d'Entrecasteaux, envoyé à la recherche de La Pérouse, Volume 2

Author
Subject or historical figure (French, 1737 - 1793)
Date1808
Object number00000352
NameBook
MediumInk on paper
DimensionsOverall: 75 x 240 x 320 mm, 3.1 kg
ClassificationsBooks and journals
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionA book titled 'Voyage de d'Entrecasteaux, Envoyé à la recherche de La Pérouse' ('Travel to Entrecasteaux, Send The Search for La Perouse') was written by Chevalier de Rossel and published in 1808 in Paris. It consists of two volumes, of which this is volume 2, detailing Bruny d'Entrecasteaux's 1791-1794 expedition to the Pacific in search of the missing French explorer la Perouse. Bruny d'Entrecasteaux died near New Guinea on the return voyage and Élisabeth-Paul-Édouard de Rossel, a physicist with the expedition, edited d'Entrecasteaux's work on his return to Paris. The disappearance of la Perouse's ships became one of the greatest maritime mysteries of the 19th century. Although he was sent to find the lost ships, d'Entrecasteaux displayed a keen interest in exploration and also undertook scientific studies and surveys of the Australian coast and Pacific islands.HistoryIn 1791 Admiral Joseph-Antoine Raymond Bruny d'Entrecasteaux with the ships LA RECHERCHE and L'ESPERANCE (under the command of Capt. Huon de Kermadec) left France with orders to search for the missing explorer Jean-Francois de Galaup, Comte de la Perouse. The expedition was also tasked to conduct scientific work and anthropological and botanical surveys of the places it visited. D'Entrecasteaux left Brest on 28 September 1791 with directions to explore the South-west of Australia, Tasmania, the Gulf of Carpentaria, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, North-east New Guinea and to search for signs of la Perouse and his two missing ships - still unaccounted for more than three years after last being reported in Sydney in March 1788. Stopping briefly at the Cape of Good Hope, d'Entrecasteaux heard about French clothes and objects that had been found in the Admiralty Islands, so he set sail for the Pacific. The expedition stopped at Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) and then sailed to New Caledonia. During the months of June to September 1792 the expedition searched the seas north and north-east of New Guinea. Finding nothing there, they sailed for Amboina for a refit and resupply before heading down the Western Australian coast to complete charting of the south-west. D'Entrecasteaux's ships then sailed eastwards and completed the survey work in Tasmania started the previous year. They sailed into the Pacific, via New Zealand to the Santa Cruz Group where further detailed survey was undertaken. While there they actually sighted Vanikoro Island (where la Perouse's ships were wrecked) but did not stop to investigate. This was the second time in as many years that a European vessel had come close to finding traces of La Perouse's missing ships; HMS PANDORA had sailed past Vanikoro in August 1791 during their search for the 'pirated' BOUNTY. Although plumes of smoke were detected, the Pandoras did not bother to investigate these obvious signs of habitation. Although he did not locate the missing ships, d'Entrecasteaux conducted important scientific research and exploration in the western Pacific, Western Australia and Tasmania. While at Recherche Bay (Tasmania) in 1792, he collected more than 5,000 specimens and compiled reports on the island's geography, flora and Indigenous population. His reports offered favourable information about the possibility of establishing a settlement on the Derwent River. By 1793 many of the ship's crew were sick from scurvy so they headed again for the Dutch East Indies. D'Entrecasteaux died of scurvy off the north-east of New Guinea on 20th July. Captain Huon de Kermadec had died earlier on, so command of the expedition was taken over by Lt. d'Aribeau. They sailed to Surabaya in the Dutch East Indies where they learned their King had been executed and the newly formed Republic of France was at war. Sympathetic to the French royalist cause d'Aribeau surrendered the ships to Dutch authorities and it was several years before the crews returned to France. One result of this action by d'Aribeau was that the research notes and survey details compiled during d'Entrecasteaux's expedition were purloined by the British (Dutch allies) in 1793 and not returned to France until 1802. The official publication 'Voyage de d'Entrecasteaux, envoye a la recherche de La Perouse', detailing the expedition, was compiled by de Rossel and published six years after the expedition papers were returned to France. During the expedition d'Entrecasteaux had compiled data to produce twelve charts of Western Australia and Tasmania, the earliest accurate representations of these coastlines. He also provided some of the earliest reliable information about the geography, flora and fauna of Western Australia and Tasmania. An account of the expedition by the expedition's botanist Jacques Labillardiere was published in 1800. Entitled 'Relation du voyage a la recherche de La Pérouse' it was printed in four separate English editions; testament to the popular interest the d'Entrecasteaux expedition excited! SignificanceThis is the second volume of the official account edited by de Rossel of d'Entrecasteaux's voyage to the Pacific in 1791-1794 in search of the lost la Perouse expedition. It contains early written information and maps of Tasmania and the south-west of Western Australia.