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A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: The lost expedition of La Perouse
From: Frank Reed CT
Date: 2005 Jun 11, 03:05 EDT
From: Frank Reed CT
Date: 2005 Jun 11, 03:05 EDT
George H, you wrote: "Indeed, the fate of La Perouse's two ships had been a great mystery, for 30-odd years, but was resolved, with considerable certainty, around 1827." Good point. The short articles on cnn.com and timesonline.co.uk seemed a little fishy --as if something might have gotten lost in the translation. I had some time to go hunting for the original French press release and background on this. What the expedition leader is claiming is that the specific identity of the vessels has been determined by disovering this sextant. The implication is that the vessel of de la Perouse was lost on the outer reef and probably sank with all hands while the other vessel grounded and broke up in much safer waters. The survivors, therefore, probably came from that vessel and Monsieur de la Perouse would not have been among them. Two web sites (in French) with lots of background on the expedition and its discoveries: http://www.operationlaperouse2005.com/album.htm Scroll about halfway down to see the sextant. Click to enlarge. http://www.pneuboat.com/vanikoro/#07 There's a photo here of the sextant just as found underwater. Again, click to enlarge. While trying to find these web sites, I discovered that the whole tale of Vanikoro and the wrecks is also told in Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (I've never read it). -FER 42.0N 87.7W, or 41.4N 72.1W. www.HistoricalAtlas.com/lunars