Publisher
London: Treuttel and Wurtz, Treuttel, Jr., and Richter
Abstract
In 1800, Louis de Freycinet served under Nicolas Baudin, who was sent by Napoleon to explore Australia and the South Seas. Freycinet was back in the Pacific in L’Uranie during 1817-20, undertaking what was the most important scientific voyage of exploration by the French in the 19th century. On board was artist Jacques Arago, who was able ‘to collect a variety of observations on the manners, arts, customs, and habits of the different nations’ encountered (Preface). His account is extremely witty, and in an effort to offer readers ‘agreeable information’, he avoided the repetition of ‘tiresome nautical details’ such as wind, dead calm, and tacking. Here is his head and shoulders portrait of a Hawaiian chief, possibly from Oahu.
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