cies of scientific renown is alien; and if such men as ux, Baudin, Dumont d'Urville, have disappeared d without having been numbered in its ranks, it was estiny arrested their career. Their place here was è obtained it would have been to them, next to the illed, the highest of gratifications. To you, gentlening their memorable labors by your suffrages would most just self-congratulation. Those labors death, their authors, has not withdrawn from your domain. o extol them, and your committee has concurred with ld prefer no better claim to your favorable attention race, on this occasion, the life of a colleague who knew ify all your sympathies, and whose name invariably s of hydrography we have named, of whom he was, ot less daring, the companion, the rival, or the master. temps-Beaupré was born August 6, 1766, at Neuville d one league north of Sainte Menehold, in that part forms the department of the Marne. His father was the soil, and the young François, who seemed destined he rather prosaic fields of that worthy country, passed al sports on the pleasant hills which, branching from diversify the banks of the Aisne. His constitution, engthened by country exercise, received on one occahile heedlessly playing with the rope of the parochial , and sustained such injuries of the head as to make The operation was no doubt skilfully performed, for me, with advancing years, a man of tall stature, of a en, and retained, for nearly eighty years, the use of the von him a place in this assemblage. I have not been ne of the modest provincial surgeon to whom, under e was indebted for life and intelligence, and who, perall value of the head he had been instrumental in re ré passed, indeed, only the years of childhood at his his relations was an eminent geographer, M. Jean Nicoa geographical establishment derived by collateral inly of Delisle-a family wholly devoted to science, and han a century, for its connexion with almost every pubgraphy, astronomy, and the marine. M. Buache, visit gave himself with unbounded deorting, adjusting, studying them; was necessary for understanding 1or, with such innate tastes, could matter of doubt, provided that for istich of La Fontaine should be 1 grow, stow." of so happy a turn, afforded every r was by no means confined to the isted in the education of the three VI, Louis XVIII, and Charles X, chs, himself a distinguished geog similarity of tastes and studies. It towards shaping the views of the of la Perouse, and being intrusted, on of instructions for the voyagenevolent spirit of Louis XVI—it short space of three months a nued for assistance in this labor to his s species of design he had been so the youthful enthusiast, in whom or a draughtsman, grew enamored, but of the expedition, and eagerly the frigates. Happily for himself the age of eighteen, there was yet sable that he should engage in such g part in that fatal expedition from scaped the notice of M. de Fleurieu, m the department of the Marine, in orders of M. Buache, to that of the to M. de Fleurieu, he was required e Baltic Neptune. y la Perouse had sailed from Brest, he coasts of the Pacific ocean in all Botany Bay, it had again put to sea, è route marked in its instructions. it, and apprehensions for its safety ily too well founded. Cangrapher, and the expedition now depar ed the King to despatch armed vesator, two new frigates, la Recherche , under the orders of Rear-Admiral e mission; and this time M. Beau Having completed, during the finest mo a hard gale; the atmosphere was thick We saw to the east of this reef two 'The claims of M. Beautemps-Beaupré to a di ized by the distinguished and lamented explo Pas just before his departure on the expedition don M. Beautemps-Beaupré, and, speakin Lad been governor, learned from the lips of ot explorer of the site on which now rises Hobart ic sea, he had thus early become an experienced edition now departing offered the happiest occasion alents in this line; for the admiral, being about to ness all the coasts where traces of la Perouse night d received orders to determine at the same time their ible compactness. he Cape of Good Hope, the expedition passed in lam, coasted at a distance the southern shores of to anchor towards the southeast point of Van Diedesert entrance of the river on which now stands the next penetrated into the Pacific ocean, followed the ledonia and the northern of New Guinea, passed to a and Timor, to the west of New Holland, explored of that vast region, and, after having thus made its anchor, January 21, 1793, in the south part of Van ring the finest month of the austral summer, import3 commenced the previous year, and particularly the Entrecasteaux, which separate the isle of Bruny from ition again sailed, February 27, and passed anew into ing its course towards all the points where la Perouse e touched or to have been driven, after his departure ars before, the expedition visited Tongataboo, one of I once more shaped its course towards New Caledonia, from the northwest. Some idea of the incidents and nay be conveyed by a few passages of the admiral's of our arrival at New Caledonia, April 17, 1793, it tmosphere was thick, but not so dark as to induce me ape. I gave orders to proceed under easy sail. About grew very dark, and the cries of numerous birds were almost certain indication at that hour, of the neighborh day was not far off, M. Merite, officer of the watch, ing to, and scarcely had objects become distinguishable, nted itself to view; an instant after it was discovered breakers on which we should certainly have struck but -mentioned; for we had been making two leagues an one, closely reefed. This dangerous ledge was reconraught of it carefully executed. Its length from north O eleven miles, and its breadth, east and west, seven to east of this reef two small wooded islands, with a third them: these we have named the Beaupré islands."* autemps-Beaupré to a distinction of this kind were incidentally ished and lamented explorer, Sir John Franklin. Being on a visit eparture on the expedition which was destined to so fatal a result, ps-Beaupré, and, speaking of Van Diemen's Land, of which Sir learned from the lips of our colleague that the latter had been the a which now rises Hobarttown, the capital of the island. "How anchor, was only marked by we followed this reef closely the pass by 2 o'clock, and a orage, when it was signalled ed, and the two frigates finally n Cook had done in 1774. April 25, to the neighboring in hopes of discovering the vn, and of fixing their position. orth, and the isles of Balabra, had been entered in the maps hese were determined by M. Balade, with the view of conear with those of the preceding f which borders the other side ption distinguished, which, after h that discovered the previous 9, 1793, and soon after encounNW. of New Caledonia; these -, have received the name of the of day, were the ships of the y approached this barrier, that ch they were extricated. Directand of Santa Cruz, the admiral the vicinity of the former, whose vithin but a few minutes, 11° 40' ous courses made by the vessels temps-Beaupré, favored by fine a multitude of points, as well on bservations he made a sketch of the c When the sun was not too high abo Two compasses were always directed, sen as a point of departure for the an en by those instruments was transcribed hether an astronomical bearing had been o gerie indication served to show the varia apply, though imperfectly, the absence mstances, which, however, occurred bu ia sufficient number of observers to take s arkable points necessary to be determi les of reflection, so that each observer without being obliged to write them of with a rapidity proportionate to the d to agree almost as exactly as those ma Beaupré, who drew the chart with as m ked advantage in embodying the results he had then all the circumstances of the was not seldom that he was enabled in thi cies committed in writing the angles phie constructions ever rendered it practica to correct, with great probability, the al times a day by astronomical observa as of chronometers and the estimate of cours The means of verification resulted, in part, of each station gave him a series of visual me point, and forming known angles, w astronomic meridian, or at least with the d by an observation made at nearly the sa from the circumstance that all the visual line the same object, such as a cape or a mountain other at the representation of that object. pted for making his observations, he first made at each station a y letters or numbers not only the sures of the angles observed, the ther, the estimate of distances, &c. e results of the observations made ignorant of the circumstance! I should e city." an expedition "for the purpose of comh he gave the name of Terra Australis, med an account of his voyage in two 4to. as well in notes engraved upon the maps ors of our colleague. In the introduction rts, and arms of the sea at the southeast pedition by M. Beautemps-Beaupré and nd minuteness of detail, with an uncomcontain some of the finest specimens of antry." f the frigate. Just one minute before taking the etch of the coast under view, beginning with those st remote, would undergo least change of outline by the ship; then, precisely at the moment when the were taken, he measured the angular distance behad designated to his assistants as the point of denarkable places of the coast, while each of the aslar distance of the same point of departure from one ed in the survey. The results of these simultaneous ds transferred to the sketch which had been made All the angular measures were taken with Borda's too high above the horizon, one of the observers that body from one of the remarkable points of the eights of the sun observed at the same moment by e distance measured, M. Beaupré obtained the astroint, whence he deduced the bearing of all the points. been taken. ways directed, during the observations, on the place rture for the angles, and the mean of the bearings Es was transcribed in the collection of notes, and this Dearing had been obtained or not. In the first case the d to show the variation of the needle, and in the second ctly, the absence of an astronomical observation. If vever, occurred but rarely, prevented the co-operation observers to take simultaneously the angles of all the sary to be determined, M. Beaupré arranged several at each observer might promptly take two or three ged to write them on the spot; and these observations, oportionate to the expertness of the observer, were exactly as those made simultaneously. the chart with as much facility as exactness, found a bodying the results observed as promptly as possible, circumstances of the observations present to his mind. e was enabled in this way to detest and remedy inadwriting the angles measured. The precision of his er rendered it practicable for him to verify, and somegreat probability, the positions of the ship, determined astronomical observations, combined with the indicad the estimate of courses. ation resulted, in part, from the fact that the observa-e him a series of visual lines, springing essentially from ming known angles, whether with one another or with n, or at least with the magnetic meridian, itself detern made at nearly the same time. They resulted, morence that all the visual lines directed from different stations n as a cape or a mountain, must, on the draught, intersect sentation of that object. When, at the first trial, these did |