Jean Francois de Galaup La Perouse was the French answer to Captain Cook, [for more information, see our Biographies page or Big Island, Hawai'i.] A born navigator and a war hero who had assisted the Americans in their fight for independence, he gained his true renown as an explorer in the South Pacific. His assignment was contrived by King Louis XVI who was bothered that the English, his greatest rivals, had navigated and lay claim to lands throughout the Pacific. The monarch dispatched Perouse with a simple command, to search for "all the lands that had escaped the vigilance of Cook."

In 1785, Perouse set sail in two frigates - L'Astrolabe and La Boussole – with a compliment of talented sailors, artists and naturalists and enough supplies to last for years. During their time at sea, Perouse and his crew made many important discoveries and catalogued innumerable new island cultures, artifacts and plant and animal life. His expedition became more than a simple display of French jurisdiction, it became an admirable scientific and cultural endeavor.

In February 1788, Perouse’s ships were anchored in Botany Bay, New Holland (Australia), from which he sent home his most recent logs, charts and detailed correspondences. He wrote his superiors that he intended to sail from Botany Bay to the Isle of France and New Guinea. He was never heard from again.

The realization that Perouse and his ships had vanished was slow to reach France. In fact, it wasn’t until over a year later that the expedition was officially declared missing and rescue operations began. Unfortunately for Perouse and his men, their journey of discovery had become a footnote to other events in their homeland… particularly the impending revolution that would bounce Louis XVI off the throne and eventually remove his head from his shoulders. It would not be until 1791 that a rescue expedition set sail from France under the command of Antoine-Raymond-Joseph Bruny d'Entrecasteaux.

The French team arrived at New Holland in 1792 but was unable to confirm any sightings of Perouse or his ships after 1788. Finally, d’Estrecasteaux decided to follow Perouse’s last known heading after leaving Botany Bay. The voyage took the Frenchmen past the Santa Cruz Island group and within clear sight of the largest of these islands, Ndende. They did not stop to investigate these inhabited lands, although they were clearly along Perouse’s intended course. When d’Estrecasteaux died two months later, the purpose of his expedition seemed to be forgotten even by his own crew. Royalists and Republicans battled each other for control of the ships, and eventually the whole journey was abandoned and the men returned home empty-handed.

Thirty years passed with no additional news about Perouse. Then, in 1826, a young Irishman named Peter Dillion made a chance discovery on one of the Santa Cruz Islands. A small group of Englishmen living on the island presented Dillion with artifacts that were clearly of French origin. They told Dillion that the items, which included a silver scabbard, had been found on the nearby island of Vanikoro. Dillion eventually had the opportunity to investigate that small piece of land, located far off the usual travel corridors. He found a variety of other French artifacts, including a ship’s bell, brass guns, cannons, copper sheeting and a candlestick. One source even records that a sword inscribed with the initials J.F.C.P. was found. Later expeditions made additional discoveries that indicated that Vanikoro had been the final and unfortunate destination of Perouse and his crew.

But what happened?

With no survivors or surviving records to tell the story, we can only surmise about the last days of L'Astrolabe and La Boussole. It is likely that the ships were caught in a typhoon that blew them far off course and wrecked them on the reef surrounding Vanikoro. According to the islanders interviewed by Dillion, most of whom were not present at these events, L’Astrolabe sank quickly with most hands on board. La Boussole was irreparably damaged but many of the crew was able to salvage a great amount of supplies from the crippled ship, escape to Vanikoro and build a stockade there. But the natives were not friendly and were known to eat their captives. The stockade was attacked and many of the surviving French sailors were killed, cooked and consumed. Over sixty skulls of Europeans were found in the native settlements on the island. In desperation, the remaining Frenchmen built a two-masted raft and went back to the sea. They were never seen again and it is unknown if they perished in the cold waters or on one of the other Santa Cruz Islands.

What actually became of Perouse is also unknown. But, if the story of his inscribed sword is true, then it can be deduced that the fearless explorer perished on Vanikoro… and possibly ended up as someone’s supper.

[This information was originally transmitted as an enewsletter in May 2005.]