Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse

Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse
Born 23 August 1741
near Albi, France
Died ?1788
Unconfirmed Vanikoro, (Australasia)
Allegiance  Kingdom of France
Service/branch  French Navy (La Royale)
Years of service 1756 - 1788
Rank

Commodore
Commands held Amazone,
Astrée,
Boussole
Battles/wars Seven Years' War
Battle of Quiberon Bay
American Revolutionary War
Naval battle of Louisbourg
Awards Chevalier de Saint-Louis

Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse (pronounced: [ʒɑ̃ fʁɑ̃swa də galop kɔ̃t də lapeʁuːz]) (23 August 1741–1788?) was a French Navy officer and explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania.[1]

Contents

Early career

Jean-François de Galaup was born near Albi, France.[2] 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.[3] 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).[4]

Scientific expedition - around the world

Objectives

After the 1783 Treaty of Paris, 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”.[5] 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,[6] both 500 tons. They were storeships, reclassified as frigates 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 Monneron, 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.[7]

The best-known figure on Cook's mission, Joseph Banks,[8] 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.

Crew

Lapérouse was well liked by his men. Among his 114-man crew there were ten scientists: Dagelet, an astronomer and mathematician; Robert de Lamanon, a geologist; La Martinière, a botanist; a physicist; three naturalists; and three illustrators, Gaspard Duché de Vancy and an uncle and nephew named Prévost.[9] 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,[10] 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

Lapérouse and his 220 men left Brest on 1 August 1785,[11] rounded Cape Horn, investigated the Spanish colonial government in the Captaincy General of Chile.[12] He arrived on 9 April 1786 at Easter Island [13] He then sailed to the Sandwich Islands, present day Hawaiian Islands,[14] where he became the first European to set foot on the island of Maui.

Alaska

Lapérouse sailed on to Alaska, where he landed near Mount St. Elias in late June 1786[15] 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.[16] The men visited with the Tlingit tribe.[17] Next, he headed south, exploring the northwest coast, including the outer islands of present day British Columbia [18][19]

California

Lapérouse sailed during August 10–30 all the way south to the Spanish Las Californias Province, present day California. He reportedly observed the only historical eruption of Mount Shasta on 7 September 1786, although this account is disputed.[20] He arrived in Monterey Bay and at the Presidio of Monterey on 14 September 1786.[21] 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.

East Asia

Lapérouse again crossed the Pacific Ocean in 100 days, arriving at Macau, where he sold the furs acquired in Alaska, dividing the profits among his men.[22] The next year, on 9 April 1787,[23] 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.

Japan and Russia

Lapérouse then sailed northward to Northeast Asia 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.[24] 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.[25]

South Pacific

Lapérouse next stopped in the Navigator Islands (Samoa), on 6 December 1787.[26] 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.[27] The expedition sailed to Tonga.

Australia

The expedition continued to Australia,[28] arriving off Botany Bay on 24 January 1788,[29] just as Captain Arthur Phillip was attempting to move the colony from there to Sydney Cove in Port Jackson.[30] 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.[29] 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.[31] He also obtained wood and fresh water and, on 10 March,[29] 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.

Epilogue

Rescue mission of D'Entrecasteaux

On 25 September 1791 Rear Admiral Bruni d'Entrecasteaux 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.[32]

Discovery of the expedition

1826 expedition

It was not until 1826 that an Irish sea captain, Peter Dillon, 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.[33] 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.[34] (See below.)

2005 expedition

In May 2005, the shipwreck examined in 1964 was formally identified as that of the Boussole.[35] 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".[36] The mission was called "Opération Vanikoro - Sur les traces des épaves de Lapérouse 2005".

2008 expedition

A further similar mission was mounted in 2008.[37][38][39]

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.[40][41][42][43]

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.[44] 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.[45]

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.[46]

Places named after Lapérouse

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)[54]

Vessels named in his honour

Current serving ships

Historic ships

Museums

Exhibitions

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 Sea 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).[82]

See also

Notes

References

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  1. ^ Novaresio, Paolo (1996). The Explorers. Stewart, Tabori & Chang, NY ISBN 1-55670-495-X. p. 180. "Lapérouse was born in 1741."
  2. ^ Novaresio, 1996, p. 180. "Lapérouse was born at Albi."
  3. ^ Dunmore, John. Where fate beckons: the life of Jean-François de la Pérouse. pp. 26-32
  4. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 181 "married a young Creole girl ... met ... at Mauritius"
  5. ^ Robert J. King, "William Bolts and the Austrian Origins of the Lapérouse Expedition", Terrae Incognitae, vol.40, 2008, pp.1-28.
  6. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 181 "Lapérouse's ships, the Astrolabe and the Boussole"
  7. ^ The French Navy archives contain an interesting series of letters sent by Monneron to Lapérouse and de Castries during his mission to England. Presenting himself as an agent accredited by a Spanish lord, Monneron talked to junior officers who had known Cook. He got to meet John Webber, the artist on the Resolution and painter of a justly famous painting of Cook as well as several drawings of north-west America. Besides his research findings, Webber passed on several other pieces of useful information: how to behave towards the native peoples, and he tried to get on well with the Pacific islanders, English prices for the necessities for a voyage (showing him there was no financial advantage in buying exchange items in England rather than France), and above all advice on anti-scurvy measures, particularly malt, of which Monneron dispatched several barrels to Paris, and how to cook preparations to make ships' rations fight scurvy.
  8. ^ Extract from Lapérouse's journal: I here must witness my recognition of Sir Joseph Banks, who, having realised that Monsieur de Monneron could not find an inclining compass in London, wished to lend us those that had served the famous captain Cook. I received these instruments with a sentiment of religious respect for the memory of this great man. Monsieur de Monneron, captain among geniuses, who had followed me on my Hudson Bay Expedition, was embarked as chief engineer; his friendship for me, as well as his taste for voyages, made him determined to seek this position : he was charged with making plans, examining positions. Monsieur Bernizet, engineer-geographer, joined him in this party. Monneron had a "a canvas ball with a layer of papier Joseph stuck on around the inside, 26 pieds [8.58m] high and 22 pieds 6 pouces [7.42m] in diameter" made [to house the compass]; he paid 730 livres 16 sols for this
  9. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 184 "the mathematician and astronomer Dagelet, the botanist La Martiniére and the geologist Lamanon. Then there were the geographers, the physicists, the physicians, and the illustrators like Duché de Vancy and the two Prévosts (uncle and nephew)."
  10. ^ De Langle's means of taking [[bearing (navigation)|]]s was exactly that used by Cook.
  11. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 181 "The expedition ... left the port of Brest on the 1st of August, 1785"
  12. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 186 "stopping on the coast of Chile"
  13. ^ Jean-François de Galaup, count de Lapérouse "Jean-François de Galaup, count de Lapérouse". Jean-François de Galaup, count de Lapérouse. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9046652. Retrieved 20 September 2006. 
  14. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 186 "Lapérouse headed for Easter Island ... left the island two days after his arrival ... after a brief stop in the Hawaiian Islands"
  15. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 186 "Towards mid-June ... the coast of Alaska, dominated by ... Mount Saint Elias"
  16. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 186–187 "entered a deep inlet that was baptised French Port (now Lituya Bay) ... On the 13th of July, 1786 .. Only one of the three boats that landed returned ...engulfed by a particularly violent ebb tide. ... Around twenty men perished"
  17. ^ "Pérouse, Jean-Francois de la". abcbookworld.com. http://www.abcbookworld.com/view_author.php?id=3017. 
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  21. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 187 "Monterey ... was reached on the 14th of September"
  22. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 187 "After 100 days of sailing ... reached the port of Macao. ... trying to trade the furs they had acquired in North America"
  23. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 187, 191 "On the 9th of April, 1787, ... set sail for Japan."
  24. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 191 "On the 7th of September, the expedition reached the coast of Kamchatka. The Russian authorities at Petropavlosk"
  25. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 191 "to send a young officer across Siberia and Russia to France with the ships' logs and the valuable charts."
  26. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 191 "On the 6th of December, ... the explorers dropped anchor off a Samoan island."
  27. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 191 "The squad ... was attacked as they were returning to their boats, and 12 men were killed, including De Langle, Lamanon and another officer. Another 20 were seriously wounded."
  28. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 192 "After having reached Tonga, he headed toward Australia"
  29. ^ a b c David Hill, 1788: The Brutal Truth of the First Fleet
  30. ^ King, Robert J (December 1999). What brought Lapérouse to Botany Bay?. 85, pt.2. Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society. pp. 140–147. http://search.informit.com.au/search;res=APAFT. 
  31. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 192 "At Botany Bay he consigned his charts to the captain of the British ship Sirius"
  32. ^ Duyker, Edward (September 2002). "In search of Lapérouse". NLA news Volume XII Number 12. National Library of Australia. http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/nlanews/2002/sep02/article5.html. 
  33. ^ Novaresio, 1996. p. 192 "Dumont d'Urville locate the remains of a wreck on the reef around the coral atoll of Vanikoro ... The material recovered ... belonged to the Astrolabe."
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  35. ^ "La Perouse wreck identified in Solomon Is". abc.net.au. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200505/s1364055.htm. 
  36. ^ Wéry, Claudine (8 April 2005). "One of France's greatest maritime mysteries is slowly yielding up its secrets". Guardian Weekly. http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2005/apr/08/guardianweekly.guardianweekly11. 
  37. ^ (French) "Le mystère Lapérouse - Vanikoro 2008 - Report de la mission". lemysterelaperouse.blogspot.com. 2 May 2008. http://lemysterelaperouse.blogspot.com/2008/05/vanikoro-2008-report-de-la-mission.html. Retrieved 8 October 2010. 
  38. ^ (French) "Expédition Lapérouse 2008". operationlaperouse2008.fr. http://www.operationlaperouse2008.fr/. Retrieved 8 October 2010. 
  39. ^ Discombe (1919-2007), Vale Reece. "Pacific Manuscripts Bureau Newsletter". rspas.anu.edu.au. p. 10. http://rspas.anu.edu.au/pambu/newsletters/Pambu24Jun08.htm. Retrieved 8 October 2010. 
  40. ^ "Lapérouse operation 2008". eramet.fr. http://www.eramet.fr/us/Site/Template/T1.aspx?SELECTID=214&ID=146. Retrieved 8 October 2010. 
  41. ^ "Expéditon Lapérouse 2008". operationlaperouse 2008. http://www.operationlaperouse2008.fr/. Retrieved 8 October 2010. 
  42. ^ On September 8, Mr. Patrick Buffet took part in the press conference organised at the Press Club de France to launch Operation Lapérouse 2008, which was attended by Admiral Jean-Louis Battet "Launch of "Lapérouse 2008" Operation". http://www.eramet.fr/us/Site/Template/T1.aspx?SELECTID=214&ID=146. Retrieved 8 October 2010. 
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  44. ^ Australian Shipwrecks - vol1 1622–1850, Charles Bateson, AH and AW Reed, Sydney, 1972, ISBN 0 589 07112 2, p24
  45. ^ Peter Dillon, Narrative and Successful Result of a Voyage in the South Seas, Performed by Order of the Government of British India, to Ascertain the Actual Fate of Lapérouse's Expedition, in 2 volumes, London 1829.
  46. ^ Wahlroos, Sven, "Mutiny and Romance in the South Seas", Salem House Publishers, c/o Harper & Row, New York, NY, 1989
  47. ^ Noumea.Site du Lycée Lapérouse Noumea-A school named after Laperouse in the South Pacific
  48. ^ Bienvenue sur le site du Lycée Général Lapérouse-a school in the city of Albi, France
  49. ^ Office de Tourisme, Albi France
  50. ^ Plan for re-development of Lapérouse Square in Albi, France
  51. ^ Office de Tourisme, Albi France-a movie theatre in rue Sere-de-Rivieres, Albi France
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  57. ^ (French) "?". defense.gouv.fr. http://www.defense.gouv.fr/marine/decouverte/equipements/batiments_de_soutien/batiments/hydro_oceanographique/laperouse_a_791. Retrieved 8 October 2010. 
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