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Laperouse
by
Ernest Scott
DEDICATION
To my friend T.B.E.
CONTENTS
I. FAMILY, YOUTH and INFLUENCES.
II. THE FRENCH NAVAL OFFICER.
III. THE LOVE STORY OF LAPEROUSE.
IV. THE VOYAGE OF EXPLORATION.
V. THE EARLY PART OF THE VOYAGE.
VI. LAPEROUSE IN THE PACIFIC.
VII. AT BOTANY BAY.
VIII. THE MYSTERY, AND THE SECRET OF THE SEA.
IX. CAPTAIN DILLON'S DISCOVERY.
X. THE FAME OF LAPEROUSE.
FOREWORD
All Sydney people, and most of those who have visited the city, have
seen the tall monument to Laperouse overlooking Botany Bay. Many have
perhaps read a little about him, and know the story of his surprising
appearance in this harbour six days after the arrival of Governor
Phillip with the First Fleet. One can hardy look at the obelisk, and at
the tomb of Pere Receveur near by, without picturing the departure of
the French ships after bidding farewell to the English officers and
colonists. Sitting at the edge of the cliff, one can follow Laperouse
out to sea, with the eye of imagination, until sails, poops and hulls
diminish to the view and disappear below the hazy-blue horizon. We may
be sure that some of Governor Phillip's people watched the sailing, and
the lessening, and the melting away of the vessels, from just about the
same place, one hundred and twenty four years ago. What they saw, and
what we can imagine, was really the end of a romantic career, and the
beginning of a mystery of the sea which even yet has not lost its
fascination.
The story of that life is surely worth telling, and, we trust, worth
reading; for it is that of a good, brave and high-minded man, a great
sailor, and a true gentleman. The author has put into these few pages
what he has gleaned from many volumes, some of them stout, heavy and
dingy tomes, though delightful enough to "those who like that
sort of thing." He hopes that the book may for many readers touch with
new meaning those old weatherworn stones at Botany Bay, and make the
personality of Laperouse live again for such as nourish an interest in
Australian history.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
(Not included in etext)
Portrait of Laperouse, with Autograph
Laperouse's Coat of Arms
The Laperouse Family
Comte de Fleurieu
Louis XVI Giving Instructions to Laperouse
Australia as known at the time of Laperouse's visit
The BOUSSOLE and ASTROLABE
Chart of Laperouse's Voyage in the Pacific
Massacre of Captain de Langle's Party
Tomb of Pere Receveur
Monument to Laperouse at Botany Bay
Admiral Dentrecasteaux
Map of Vanikoro Island
Relics of Laperouse
Life of Laperouse
Chapter I.
FAMILY, YOUTH and INFLUENCES
Jean-Francois Galaup, Comte De Laperouse, was born at Albi, on August
23, 1741. His birthplace is the chief town in the Department of Tarn,
lying at the centre of the fruitful province of Languedoc, in the south
of France. It boasts a fine old Gothic cathedral, enriched with much
noble carving and brilliant fresco painting; and its history gives it
some importance in the lurid and exciting annals of France. From its
name was derived that of a religious sect, the Albigeois, who professed
doctrines condemned as heretical and endured severe persecution during
the thirteenth century.
But among all the many thousands of men who have been born, and have
lived, and died in the old houses of the venerable city, none, not even
among its bishops and counts, has borne a name which lives in the
memory of mankind as does that of the navigator, Laperouse. The sturdy
farmers of the fat and fertile plain which is the granary of France,
who drive in to Albi on market days, the patient peasants of the
fields, and the simple artisans who ply their primitive trades under
the shadow of the dark-red walls of St. Cecile, know few details,
perhaps, about the sailor who sank beneath the waters of the Pacific
so many years ago. Yet very many of them have heard of Laperouse, and
are familiar with his monument cast in bronze in the public square of
Albi. They speak his name respectfully as that of one who grew up
among their ancestors, who trod their streets, sat in their cathedral,
won great fame, and met his death under the strange, distant, southern
stars.
His family had for five hundred years been settled, prominent and
prosperous, on estates in the valley of the Tarn. In the middle of the
fifteenth century a Galaup held distinguished office among the citizens
of Albi, and several later ancestors are mentioned honourably in its
records. The father of the navigator, Victor Joseph de Galaup,
succeeded to property which maintained him in a position of influence
and affluence among his neighbours. He married Marguerite de
Resseguier, a woman long remembered in the district for her qualities
of manner and mind. She exercised a strong influence over her
adventurous but affectionate son; and a letter written to her by him at
an interesting crisis of his life, testifies to his eager desire to
conform to his mother's wishes even in a matter that wrenched his
heart, and after years of service in the Navy had taken him far and
kept him long from her kind, concerning eyes.
Jean-Francois derived the name by which he is known in history from the
estate of Peyrouse, one of the possessions of his family. But he
dropped the "y" when assuming the designation, and invariably
spelt the name "Laperouse," as one word. Inasmuch as the final
authority on the spelling of a personal name is that of the individual
who owns it, there can be no doubt that we ought always to spell this
name "Laperouse," as, in fact, successors in the family who have borne
it have done; though in nearly all books, French as well as English, it
is spelt "La Perouse." In the little volume now in the reader's hands,
the example of Laperouse himself has been followed.
On this point it may be remarked concerning another navigator who was
engaged in Australian exploration, that we may lose touch with an
interesting historical fact by not observing the correct form of a
name. On maps of Tasmania appears "D'Entrecasteaux Channel." It was
named by and after Admiral Bruny Dentrecasteaux, who as commander of
the RECHERCHE and ESPERANCE visited Australian waters. We shall have
something to say about his expedition towards the close of the book.
Now, Dentrecasteaux sailed from France in 1791, while the Revolution
was raging. All titles had been abolished by a decree of the National
Assembly on July 19th, 1790. When he made this voyage, therefore, the
Admiral was not Bruny D'Entrecasteaux, a form which implied a
territorial titular distinction; but simply Citizen Dentrecasteaux. The
name is so spelt in the contemporary histories of his expedition
written by Rossel and Labillardiere. It would not have been likely to
be spelt in any other way by a French officer at the time. Thus,
the Marquis de la Fayette became simply Lafayette, and so with all
other bearers of titles in France. Consequently we should, by observing
this little difference, remind ourselves of Dentrecasteaux' period and
circumstances.
That, however, is by the way, and our main concern for the present is
with Laperouse.
As a boy, Jean-Francois developed a love for books of voyages, and
dreamt, as a boy will, of adventures that he would enjoy when he grew
to manhood. A relative tells us that his imagination was enkindled by
reading of the recent discoveries of Anson. As he grew up, and himself
sailed the ocean in command of great ships, he continued to read all
the voyaging literature he could procure. The writings of Byron,
Carteret, Wallis, Louis de Bougainville, "and above all Cook," are
mentioned as those of his heroes. He "burned to follow in their
footsteps."
It will be observed that, with one exception, the navigators who are
especially described by one of his own family as having influenced the
bent of Laperouse were Englishmen. He did not, of course, read all of
their works in his boyhood, because some of them were published after
he had embraced a naval career. But we note them in this place, as the
guiding stars by which he shaped his course. He must have been a young
man, already on the way to distinction as an officer, when he came
under the spell of Cook. "And above all Cook," says his relative. To
the end of his life, down to the final days of his very last
voyage, Laperouse revered the name of Cook. Every Australian reader
will like him the better for that. Not many months before his own life
ended in tragedy and mystery, he visited the island where the great
English sailor was slain. When he reflected on the achievements of that
wonderful career, he sat down in his cabin and wrote in his Journal the
passage of which the following is a translation. It is given here out
of its chronological order, but we are dealing with the influences that
made Laperouse what he was, and we can see from these sincere and
feeling words, what Cook meant to him:
"Full of admiration and of respect as I am for the memory of that great
man, he will always be in my eyes the first of navigators. It is he who
has determined the precise position of these islands, who has explored
their shores, who has made known the manners, customs and religion of
the inhabitants, and who has paid with his blood for all the light
which we have to-day concerning these peoples. I would call him the
Christopher Columbus of these countries, of the coast of Alaska, and of
nearly all the isles of the South Seas. Chance might enable the most
ignorant man to discover islands, but it belongs only to great men like
him to leave nothing more to be done regarding the coasts they have
found. Navigators, philosophers, physicians, all find in his Voyages
interesting and useful things which were the object of his concern. All
men, especially all navigators, owe a tribute of praise to his memory.
How could one neglect to pay it at the moment of coming upon the
group of islands where he finished so unfortunately his career?"
We can well understand that a lad whose head was full of thoughts of
voyaging and adventure, was not, as a schoolboy, very tame and easy to
manage. He is described as having been ardent, impetuous, and rather
stubborn. But there is more than one kind of stubbornness. There is the
stupid stubbornness of the mule, and the fixed, firm will of the
intelligent being. We can perceive quite well what is meant in this
case. On the other hand, he was affectionate, quick and clever. He
longed for the sea; and his father, observing his decided inclination,
allowed him to choose the profession he desired.
It may well have seemed to the parents of Laperouse at this time that
fine prospects lay before a gallant young gentleman who should enter
the Marine. There was for the moment peace between France and England.
A truce had been made by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748. But
everybody knew that there would be war again soon. Both countries were
struggling for the mastery in India and in North America. The sense of
rivalry was strong. Jealousies were fierce on both sides. In India, the
French power was wielded, and ever more and more extended, by the
brilliant Governor Dupleix; whilst in the British possessions the
rising influence was that of the dashing, audacious Clive. In North
America the French were scheming to push their dominion down the
Ohio-Mississippi Valley from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, in
the rear of the line of British colonies planted on the seaboard from
the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Florida. The colonists were determined to
prevent them; and a young man named George Washington, who afterwards
became very famous, first rose into prominence in a series of tough
struggles to thwart the French designs. The points of collision between
the two nations were so sharp, feeling on either side was so bitter,
the contending interests were so incapable of being reconciled, that it
was plain to all that another great war was bound to break out, and
that sea power would play a very important part in the issue. The young
Laperouse wanted to go to sea, and his father wanted him to distinguish
himself and confer lustre on his name. The choice of a calling for him,
therefore, suited all the parties concerned.
He was a boy of fifteen when, in November, 1756, he entered the Marine
service as a royal cadet. He had not long to wait before tasting
"delight of battle," for the expected war was declared in May, and
before he was much older he was in the thick of it.