This large beautifully hand coloured original antique map of Australia, the Indian Ocean, the South Pacific and East Indies - showing the search for the French explorer Jean François Galaup, Comte de La Pérouse and his crew from his voyages and consequent disappearance between 1785-88 - was engraved by Barbie du Bocage (1760 - 1825) in the 8th year of the French revolution (1800), the date is engraved in the title. This map was included in the publication  Relation du Voyage a la Recherche de la Perouse published by the Botanist Jacques Labillardière in 1800.

Search for La Perouse - On 25 September 1791 Rear Admiral Bruni d'Entrecasteaux departed Brest in search of La Pérouse. His expedition followed La Pérouse's proposed path through the islands northwest of Australia while at the same time making scientific and geographic discoveries.
In May 1793, he arrived at the island of Vanikoro, which is part of the Santa Cruz group of islands. D'Entrecasteaux thought he saw smoke signals from several elevated areas on the island, but was unable to investigate due to the dangerous reefs surrounding the island and had to leave. He died two months later. The botanist Jacques Labillardière, attached to the expedition, eventually returned to France and published his account, Relation du Voyage à la Recherche de la Pérouse, in 1800.It was not until 1826 that an Irish captain, Peter Dillon, found enough evidence to piece together the events of the tragedy. In Tikopia (one of the islands of Santa Cruz), he bought some swords he had reason to believe had belonged to La Pérouse. He made enquiries, and found that they came from nearby Vanikoro, where two big ships had broken up. Dillon managed to obtain a ship in Bengal, and sailed for Vanikoro where he found cannon balls, anchors and other evidence of the remains of ships in water between coral reefs. He brought several of these artefacts back to Europe, as did Dumont d'Urville in 1828. De Lesseps, the only member of the expedition still alive at the time, identified them as all belonging to the Astrolabe. From the information Dillon received from the people on Vanikoro, a rough reconstruction could be made of the disaster that struck La Pérouse, which was confirmed by the find and search of the shipwreck of the Boussole in 1964. In May 2005, the wreck was formally identified as that of the Boussole.
Both ships had been wrecked on the reefs, the Boussole first. The Astrolabe was unloaded and taken apart. A group of men, probably the survivors of the Boussole, were massacred by the local inhabitants. According to natives, surviving sailors built a two-masted craft from the wreckage of the Astrolabe, and left westward about 9 months later, but what happened to them is unknown. Also, two men, one a "chief" and the other his servant, had remained behind, but had left Vanikoro a few years before Dillon arrived.

Du Bocage was a French geographer and cosmographer who studied under D' Anville and became one of the founders of the Geography Society of Paris. (Ref: Tooley; M&B)

General Description:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy & stable
Paper color: - White
Age of map color: - Early 
Colors used: - Green, yellow, orange 
General color appearance: - Authentic 
Paper size: - 31 1/2in x 21 1/2in (800mm x 550mm)
Plate size: - 29in x 21in (740mm x 535mm)
Margins: - Min 1in (25mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - None
Plate area: - Folds as issued, restoration along centerfold, light rubbing to left longitudinal and right border lines
Verso: -

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