There are new discussions of the evidence which shed light on the fate of the mission so dear to the heart of Louis XVI. From
The Conversation:
The expedition left the French port of Brest in 1785. The two vessels,
with a complement of 225 officers, crew and scientists, were crammed
with supplies and trade goods for a four-year long Pacific voyage that
sought to emulate the feats of discovery of Captain James Cook. King
Louis XVI took a personal interest in the undertaking and helped draft
the plans and itinerary.
La Pérouse also had orders to investigate the new British colony in
Australia. He arrived off Botany Bay, New South Wales in January 1788 to
see Arthur Philip’s First Fleet at anchor, and so witnessed the
beginning of European settlement of the continent. For six weeks the
French camped on the northern shores of the Bay: the area now home to
the south-eastern Sydney suburb bearing his name.
Before departing Australia to continue his voyage, La Pérouse left
letters with the British for forwarding to the French Naval Ministry. In
them he detailed how he planned to leave the Pacific Ocean via Torres
Strait, the narrow waterway separating Australia and New Guinea, and be
back in France by June 1789. Concern mounted when they did not arrive
as expected. In 1791 the French National Assembly commissioned an
expedition to search for the overdue navigator, without success. It is
said that King Louis XVI, on his way to the guillotine in 1793, enquired
of his captors “Is there news of La Pérouse?”
A dogged Irish captain finally solved the puzzle almost four decades
later. In 1826 Peter Dillon saw European objects at Tikopia in the
Solomon Islands, which locals told him came from a nearby island called
Vanikoro. He suspected they were from La Pérouse’s ships. Eventually,
he was given command of the survey vessel Research and arrived at
Vanikoro in 1827, going on to learn the awful fate of L’Astrolabe and La
Boussole: both frigates had smashed against the island’s fringing reef
during a storm. Artefacts collected by Dillon were taken to Paris where
they were identified as belonging to the expedition vessels.
The Vanikoro Islanders also related how survivors from Le Pérouse’s
ships had spent several months constructing a small two-masted schooner,
using timber salvaged from wreckage and hewn from the island’s dense
forests. Once completed, they launched the vessel and sailed away. (Read more.)
More from
Phys.org.
While researching a
project on the history of Torres Strait, Dr Hitchcock came across an
article published in an 1818 Indian newspaper, The Madras Courier. He is
confident the article reveals what became of the survivors.
The article tells the story of Shaik Jumaul, a castaway Indian seaman
who survived the sinking of the merchant ship Morning Star which was
wrecked off the coast of north Queensland in 1814. Jumaul made it to
Murray Island, where he lived for four years, learning the language and
culture of the Islanders. He was finally rescued by two merchant ships
that passed through the area in 1818.
"Jumaul informed his rescuers that he had seen cutlasses and muskets
on the islands which he recognised as not being of English make, as well
as a compass and a gold watch," he said.
"When he asked the Islanders where they obtained these things, they
related how approximately thirty years earlier, a ship had been wrecked
on the Great Barrier Reef to the east, in sight of the island.
"Boats with crew had come ashore, but in the fighting that followed,
all were eventually killed, except a boy, who was saved and brought up
as one of their own, later marrying a local woman."
The La Pérouse expedition crew list includes a ship's boy (mousse),
François Mordelle, from the port town of Tréguier in Brittany,
northwestern France. Dr Hitchcock wonders if Mordelle could be the last
survivor of the La Pérouse expedition.
"The Indian newspaper article featuring the castaway's account was
later reproduced in several other newspapers and periodicals of the day,
in Australia, Britain, France and other countries, and observers noted
that this might refer to the La Pérouse expedition," Dr Hitchcock said.
Read more at:
https://phys.org/news/2017-08-clue-reveal-fate-famous-french.html#jCp
While researching a
project on the history of Torres Strait, Dr Hitchcock came across an
article published in an 1818 Indian newspaper, The Madras Courier. He is
confident the article reveals what became of the survivors.
The article tells the story of Shaik Jumaul, a castaway Indian seaman
who survived the sinking of the merchant ship Morning Star which was
wrecked off the coast of north Queensland in 1814. Jumaul made it to
Murray Island, where he lived for four years, learning the language and
culture of the Islanders. He was finally rescued by two merchant ships
that passed through the area in 1818.
"Jumaul informed his rescuers that he had seen cutlasses and muskets
on the islands which he recognised as not being of English make, as well
as a compass and a gold watch," he said.
"When he asked the Islanders where they obtained these things, they
related how approximately thirty years earlier, a ship had been wrecked
on the Great Barrier Reef to the east, in sight of the island.
"Boats with crew had come ashore, but in the fighting that followed,
all were eventually killed, except a boy, who was saved and brought up
as one of their own, later marrying a local woman."
The La Pérouse expedition crew list includes a ship's boy (mousse),
François Mordelle, from the port town of Tréguier in Brittany,
northwestern France. Dr Hitchcock wonders if Mordelle could be the last
survivor of the La Pérouse expedition.
"The Indian newspaper article featuring the castaway's account was
later reproduced in several other newspapers and periodicals of the day,
in Australia, Britain, France and other countries, and observers noted
that this might refer to the La Pérouse expedition," Dr Hitchcock said.
Read more at:
https://phys.org/news/2017-08-clue-reveal-fate-famous-french.html#jCp
