A Voyage Round the World in the Years 1785, 1786, 1787 and 1788. Edited by M. L. A. Milet-Mireau. Vol. III

1798

Hocken Library: Bliss KX LaP

London: Printed for J. Johnson

La Pérouse’s expedition was one of the most important scientific explorations ever undertaken to the Pacific. As captain of the Boussole, with sister ship, the Astrolabe, he led astronomers, surveyors, botanists, draftsmen, a gardener and two chaplains to explore all those regions not explored by Cook; to make scientific observations on countries and people they met; and to obtain reliable information on the fur trade and the extent of Spanish settlements in California. La Pérouse called at Hawaii, Macao, Formosa, Samoa, and Tonga. On 10 March 1788, after sending dispatches back to France from Botany Bay, he sailed out and was never seen again. One of forty-two plates in this first English edition is of Easter Island, where La Pérouse stayed only a few hours.