An Account of a Voyage in Search of La Pérouse Undertaken by Order of the Constituent Assembly of France, and Performed in the Years 1791, 1792, and 1793 An Account of a Voyage in Search of La Pérouse 2 Volume Set Series

Following the mysterious disappearance of the La Pérouse expedition after it sailed out of Botany Bay in 1788, the French botanist Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardière (1755?1834) took part in the search that departed in 1791 from Brest in two ships, Recherche and Espérance. In the space of three years, the expedition's naturalists collected numerous specimens, with Labillardière focusing on Australian flora, but their missing countrymen were never found. Notwithstanding the later confiscation of the scientific collections by the British - Sir Joseph Banks helped to secure their return - Labillardière was able to publish this narrative to great acclaim in 1800. Reissued here is the English translation of the same year, complete with a volume of finely engraved plates. The work is especially notable for its descriptions and illustrations of the indigenous peoples of Australasia. Volume 1 covers the expedition from September 1791 through to January 1793, when it reached Tasmania.

Dedication; Translator's preface; Introduction; List of plates; Indexes; 1. Departure from Brest; 2. We leave Teneriffe to proceed to the Cape of Good Hope; 3. Stay at the Cape of Good Hope; 4. Departure from the Cape of Good Hope; 5. Stay at Port d'Entrecasteaux; 6. Importance of d'Entrecasteaux's strait; 7. Departure from Carteret's harbour; 8. Stay at Amboyna; 9. Departure from Amboyna.