An Account of a Voyage in Search ofLa 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 2 includes discussion of Tasmania, New Caledonia and the Friendly Islands, along with vocabulary lists.

Table of the route of the Espérance; Names and value of new French measures, compared with the old; 10. Stay in Rocky Bay; 11. Departure from Rocky Bay; 12. Departure from Adventure Bay; 13. Departure from Tongataboo; 14. Departure from New Caledonia; 15. Stay at Waygiou; Vocabulary of the Malay language; Vocabulary of the savages of Cape Diemen; Vocabulary of the language of the Friendly Islands; Vocabulary of the language of the natives of New Caledonia; Vocabulary of the language of the natives of Waygiou.