Voyage to Australia & the Pacific, 1791-1793 / Bruni D'Entrecasteaux ; edited and translated by Edward Duyker and Maryse Duyker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Entrecasteaux, Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni, chevalier d', 1737-1793, author.

Contributor:

Duyker, Edward, editor, translator.

Duyker, Maryse, 1932- editor, translator.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Entrecasteaux, Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni, chevalier d', 1737-1793--Diaries.

Entrecasteaux, Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni.

Entrecasteaux, Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni, chevalier d', 1737-1793--Travel--Oceania.

Natural history--Oceania.

Natural history.

Explorers--France--Diaries.

Explorers.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (369 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Carlton South, Victoria : Melbourne University Press, 2001.

Summary:

In 1791 Admiral Bruny d'Entrecasteaux sailed with two ships from Revolutionary France to search for his compatriot, the explorer La P�rouse, who was missing in the Pacific. Over a period of nearly two years he had held his ideologically divided expedition together. Without his exceptional maritime skills his men (and one cross-dressing woman!) might all have died--or played out the destructive fury of the Revolution on the quarterdeck before reaching Java. More than two centuries later, d'Entrecasteaux's account of his voyage remains a profound affirmation of his achievements. His humane, sensitive and even joyful encounters with the peoples of Australia and the Pacific make this a remarkably appealing book. Although d'Entrecasteaux failed to discover the fate of La P�rouse, and perished in the attempt, his voyage was more than a mere rescue mission. Between 1791 and 1793 the expedition discovered the Derwent estuary and the D'Entrecasteaux Channel between Bruny Island and mainland Tasmania, and Esperance Bay and the Archipelago of the Recherche in Western Australia. D'Entrecasteaux's voyage also recorded some of the earliest observations of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania and south-western Australia, and detailed accounts of the islands and peoples of the Pacific, including New Zealand, Tonga, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. D'Entrecasteaux died suddenly off the coast of New Guinea, reportedly afflicted by symptoms of scurvy in July 1793.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Illustrations

Maps

Acknowledgements

Introduction

La PÉrouse's Expedition

Plans for a Search and Rescue Expedition

The Course of the Expedition

Disintegration of the Expedition

Textual Note

I The Atlantic

II Cape of Good Hope

III Traversing the Indian Ocean

IV Van Diemen's Land

V The Coral Labyrinths

VI Disappointment in the Admiralties

VII Amboina

VIII Moluccas to Western Australia

IX Espérance Bay

X Coasting Terre de Nuyts

XI Return to Van Diemen's Land

XII To New Zealand and The Friendly Islands

XIII Sojourn In Tongatabou

XIV Observations On Tongatabou

XV To New Caledonia

XVI Observations on New Caledonia

XVII From Balade to Santa Cruz

XVIII The Solomon Islands

XIX The Final Surveys

Afterword

Glossary of French Terms, Titles and Ranks

Glossary of Nautical Terms

Appendix I Decree of the National Assembly

Appendix II King's Memorandum

INSTRUCTIONS PART I

IIth IIIth IVth and Vth Parts

Appendix III Letter from M. de Fleurieu, Minister of Marine to Sieur d'Entrecasteaux

Notes

Bibliography

Books.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780522863857

052286385X

OCLC:

1499718971