The Mystery of La Perouse

[JanisK]

An Australian cruising boat publication "Bow2Stern" is published every few months and available on line free. The current issue has an article on La Perouse and his demise in the tropical waters of the Pacific.

Perhaps the forum and in particular Marin may find it of interest especially given the prominence Marin's opinions and his boat La Perouse have in this Trawler Forum.

Bow 2 Stern - Queensland's Free Boating Publication - The Mystery of La Perouse

 

[Marin]

Our boat is named for him (as opposed to one of the bays, glaciers, banks or straits around the Pacific that are named for him). We've been to the La Pérouse museum in Albi, France where he was from, and we have the English translations of his journals, which he sent back to Paris overland from, IIRC, what is now Kamchatka before he set out on what turned out to be the the final leg of his voyage of discovery. While the fate of his two ships and most of his crew is known, La Pérouse's final fate is not as he disappeared with a small contingent of his crew when they set out for New Zealand in a small boat built from the wreckage of one his ships to get help.

He fought the British on our behalf in the French navy, defeating some British ships in Hudson's Bay.

He was a good commander and, rare for the day, was kind to his crews.

We figure as long as we keep La Pérouse out of the southwestern Pacific we'll do fine.

 

[BruceK]

Mais non! He visited the "southwestern Pacific" in 1788,the first Frenchman to do so, surprising the recently arrived "First Fleet" of ships (after which many of our ferries are named) which had sailed from England to settle in Australia, bringing a large complement of convicts sentenced to transportation to Australia as a punishment. Many Australians descend from those and other English convicts, which may explain a lot. Many had committed crimes as serious as the theft of a loaf of bread to warrant their sea journey.
His full name is Jean-Francois de Galaup de la Perouse (time to expand the name boards?). A suburb of Sydney named after him (in the short form) is located on Botany Bay, a major container and fuel import discharge port just south of Sydney now Port Jackson is no longer a working port except for cruise ships. If you have flown into Sydney landing from the east you`ve flown over it,quite low.Apparently a Museum I have never bothered to visit, despite a number of cycling trips to La Perouse, exists with some of his original maps,scientific instruments, and relics of the frigates "Astrolabe" and "Bussole".
The French are still most welcome,especially in the restaurant trade. BruceK

 

[Marin]

Yes, they say if La Pérouse had arrived in Australia just a few days earlier they'd all be speaking French down there today. By the time he got there his ships were in very bad shape and he was running low on supplies. The British commander very kindly gave la Pérouse what he could spare but it wasn't much. La Pérouse left on what was to become the final leg of what was supposed to be a voyage around the world.