Jean-François de Galaup, count de La Pérouse

Jean François Galaup, count (comte) de La Pérouse (August 23, 1741{{ref|novaresio_birthyear}} - 1788) was a French naval officer and explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania.

Epilog

Rescue mission of D'Entrecasteaux

In 1791-1793 Antoine de Bruni, chevalier d'Entrecasteaux looked for La Pérouse. His expedition followed La Pérouse's proposed path through the islands northwest of Australia. D'Entrecasteaux died during the voyage, and the expedition found no trace of La Pérouse's expedition.

Related Topics:
1791 - 1793 - Antoine de Bruni, chevalier d'Entrecasteaux

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Discovery of the expedition

It was not until 1826 that an English captain, Peter Dillon, found evidence of the tragedy. In Tikopia (one of the islands of Santa Cruz), he bought some swords he had reason to believe had belonged to La Pérouse. He made enquiries, and found that they came from nearby Vanikoro, where two big ships had broken up. Dillon managed to obtain a ship in Bengal, and sailed for 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 D'Urville in 1828.{{ref|novaresio_durville}} De Lesseps, the only member of the 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 La Pérouse, which was confirmed by the find and search of the shipwreck of the Boussole in 1964.

Related Topics:
1826 - Peter Dillon - Tikopia - Vanikoro - Bengal - D'Urville - 1828 - 1964

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Both ships had been wrecked on the reefs, the Boussole first. The Astrolabe was unloaded and taken apart. A group of men, probably the survivors of the Boussole, were massacred by the local inhabitants. According to natives, surviving sailors built a two-masted craft from the wreckage of the Astrolabe, and left westward about 9 months later, but what happened to them is unknown.

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The La Perouse Strait between Hokkaido and Sakhalin is named in his honour, as is La Perouse, the northern headland of Botany Bay, and La Perouse Pinnacle, in the French Frigate Shoals.

Related Topics:
La Perouse Strait - Hokkaido - Sakhalin - Botany Bay - French Frigate Shoals

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