Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, bi-centenary memorial - Nouméa, New Caledonia
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waiiti20
S 22° 18.214 E 166° 26.079
58K E 647779 N 7532869
BICENTENAIRE
DE LA MISSION
SCIENTIFIQUE ET
HUMANITAIRE
FRANCAISE DANS
LE PACIFIQUE
Waymark Code: WMP8D0
Location: New Caledonia
Date Posted: 07/19/2015
Views: 6
Jean-François de Galaup, count de Lapérouse left France in August 1785 with two ships La Boussole and l'Astrolabe, for a voyage of discovery in the Pacific Ocean.
Lapérouse's mission had been ordered by Louis the XVIth. It was all embracing; bring new knowledge on the Pacifique Ocean, improve maps, study unknown people, bring back new plants. It had also political objectives with projects of establishing French settlements in Alaska, in Philippines and in Kamchatka. New Caledonia, discovered by Captain Cook 11 years before, was to be more explored. His expedition was also to search for the Northwest Passage from the Pacific side and to explore along the coasts of America, China, and Siberia and in the South Seas. He reached Alaska, visited the Hawaiian Islands, Macao, and the Philippines, then went to Japan and Kamchatka, and discovered La Pérouse Strait in 1787. He landed at Samoa and the Friendly Islands. He left Australia (Botany Bay) on 10th March 1788 heading NW towards New Caledonia and then vanished with his two ships and 220 men. The loss of de Lapérouse was a mystery for a long time. Louis XVIth while being taken to the guillotine was said to have asked : "have we got news from Monsieur de Lapérouse".
An expedition was sent to his research in Septembre 1791. It was headed by Admiral d'Entrecasteaux who arrived at the Isle of Pines (New Caledonia) on 16th June 1792. While heading later to the Santa-Cruz Islands, he discovered on 19th May 1793 a new island which he named "'île de La Recherche". Without landing on it he then sailed on to Sourabaya. This island was Vanikoro (Santa Cruz Is., Solomon is., North of Vanuatu) and d'Entrecateaux missed finding the last members of Lapérouse crew as some of them, this was discovered later, were still probably living on this island. Merchant Captain Peter Dillon, in 1826 and 1827, was the first one to discover evidence of the two ships wreckage in Vanikoro.
Relevent website: [Web Link]
List if there are any visiting hours:
24/7
Entrance fees (if any):
Gratis
Sponsor(s): La Ville de Nouméa
Parking coordinates: Not Listed
Date dedicated: Not listed
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