French Explorers in the Pacific

Introduction

Nicolas-André Monsiau

1754–1837

Louis XVI giving his instructions to the Comte de La Pérouse

(Louis XVI donne ses instructions au

Capitaine de vaisseau La Pérouse)

1817 (detail) oil on canvas

172.0 x 227.0 cm

Versailles, musée national du château (Inv. MV 220)

Early French explorers and Australia

The British occupation and colonisation of Australia have obscured the significant role

of the French in the Europeon discovery, charting and documentation of the mysterious

land mass known in the eighteenth century as New Holland, as well as its flora,

fauna and human inhabitants. France was a leading centre of the Enlightenment which exalted

empirically gathered knowledge of nature in all its manifestations and the use of reason to

better understand and improve the universe. As the hallmarks of civilised society, these ideals

shaped exploration, replacing at least in part both commercial and political motivations.

The publication by the Philosophe Charles de Brosses of a two-volume book, Histoire des

navigations aux Terres Australes, in 1756 – summarising all thus far discovered about the

southern seas, including the explorations by Abel Tasman and William Dampier – fuelled

scientific and expansionist endeavour and was probably decisive in Louis XV’s decision to

support an exploratory expedition.1 Rivalry between England and France cannot be dismissed

as a contributing motivation, spurred on by news of Captain James Cook’s ‘discovery’ of the

east coast of Australia in 1770. Beginning with Louis XV, French rulers pursued a policy of

exploration of ‘Terre Australe’ that focused as much on scientific study of the land and its

inhabitants as on charting its coastline.

Louis XVI (1754–1793), who ascended to the throne at his grandfather’s death in 1775, was a

keen geographer, an avid reader of the accounts of Captain Cook’s voyages and a determined

rival of Britain’s maritime supremacy. In 1785, he commissioned Jean-François de Galaup,

Comte de La Pérouse (1741–1788), to circumnavigate the Pacific – an undertaking for which

public enthusiasm ran high. While Australia had always been intended as the final stop of La

Pérouse’s itinerary, Louis XVI was made anxious by news of the departure from England of

Arthur Phillip with the first prisoners destined to colonise Botany Bay. La Pérouse was then

asked by dispatch to proceed there in all haste. He sailed into Botany Bay on 26 January 1788,

only days after Phillip and the First Fleet had arrived there to establish the first European colony

in Australia. After spending six weeks in Botany Bay, La Pérouse set sail to New Caledonia, and

he and his ships were never seen again.2 Fortunately, his journal, charts and other papers were

dispatched to France before his disappearance.

A party led by Joseph-Antoine Bruny d’Entrecasteaux was sent in search of La Pérouse in 1791;

while unsuccessful in that venture, it nevertheless added substantially to the scientific knowledge

and charting of south-western Australia and Tasmania. As a student at the prestigious École

Militaire, the fifteen-year-old Napoleon apparently sought to join La Pérouse’s expedition to

the South Seas, demonstrating an early passion for exploration and science. It is not surprising,

then, that as First Consul Napoleon supported Nicolas Baudin’s now famous expedition to

Australia in 1800 (p. 139).3 The scientific and cartographic achievements of this expedition

added immeasurably to the sum of knowledge of the Terres Australes. Although the British first

claimed and colonised Australia, it was the French who fully embraced and made known the

richness and diversity of life in this land.

Elizabeth Cross

Task

You are to create a timeline of the French exploration of the pacific
You are to map the race between Boudin and Flinders using Prezi (https://prezi.com/signup/public/) NB use your College email and login
Choose a French Explorer of the Pacific, and write a biography suitable for Year 6 students, including

basic background (date of birth, where he grew up, etc)
what inspired his voyage
where did the voyage take him
interesting facts
map his journey
how did he die

Process

This section of work will involved different quest to find the relevant information.

1. Watch the French Explorers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g2rlpnW65E

2. Watch on 'Clickview': 'The Race. The Navigators - Boudin Vs Flinders: Part 1' - during double lesson

3. Explore the following websites to gather information on French Explorers for the Biography task.

Evaluation

CRITERIA	A	B	C	D	E
Meaning and relevance, organisation	Totally clear	Readily comprehensible	Essential meaning conveyed	Meaning disjointed	Some meaning only
Research skills of Explorer	Commands a wide and detailed range of research skills	Ready use of a wide range of research skills	Appropriate display of familiar research skills	Can display some research skills	Produces few isolates and narrow range of research skills
Presentation of Prezi PowerPoint, mapping and meeting points	Completely accurate with some errors excellent layout and presentation	Accurate with some errors very good layout and presentation	Fairly accurate with some errors that do not impede meaning Sound layout and presentation	Some accuracy with many errors Simple layout and presentation	Very little accuracy Poor layout and presentation
Accuracy of timeline	Completely accurate with some errors	Accurate with some errors	Fairly accurate with some errors that do not impede meaning	Some accuracy with many errors	Very little accuracy

French Explorers in the Pacific

CRITERIA

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