632 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



curious colony of Jews. The destination of the vessel was at 

 once changed to a search for this remarkable spot. It was 

 on this quest that De Surville fell in with the coast of New 

 Zealand at Mongonui, or Doubtless Bay, as Cook had named 

 it three days before De Surville' s arrival. The Frenchman 

 called it Lauriston Bay, probably after M. Laws, who was 

 the Governor of Pondicherry and one of the charterers of his 

 vessel. Here he stayed for three weeks, being received very 

 hospitably by the natives — a hospitality which he requited in 

 a discreditable manner. During a terrible storm, of which, 

 indeed, Cook also speaks, he lost one of his boats. Suspecting 

 the natives of having stolen it, he set fire to their village, 

 otherwise maltreated them, and kidnapped their principal 

 chief Naginoui, whom he took with him to sea, and who 

 shortly afterwards died heart-broken. For the only account 

 we possess of this voyage we are indebted to the Abbe Alexis 

 Bochon, himself an extensive traveller. The abbe happened 

 to be at Pondicherry at the time of the " St. Jean Baptiste's " 

 return, and thus got access to De Surville's journal. From it 

 he made those extracts which appear as an appendix to his 

 " Nouveau Voyage a la Mer du Sud," published at Paris in 

 1783. These extracts give us the sole knowledge we possess 

 of the first visit of the French to New Zealand. From some 

 remarks the abbe makes it is apparent that the original journal 

 contains further information regarding the natives and the 

 productions of the country, which he did not think it worth 

 while to detail. Now, where is this lost journal ? This " Nou- 

 veau Voyage" is an extremely rare and valuable book, copies 

 fetching as much as £3 or £4. It also contains the sad and 

 eventful story of the second visit paid to these shores by the 

 French in 1772 in the ships " Mascarin " and " Marquis de 

 Castries," under the command of Marion du Fresne and Du- 

 clesmeur. On this occasion the vessels were anchored at the 

 Bay of Islands, known on the old French maps as the Bay of 

 Treachery, for more than a month. Apparently the utmost 

 friendship existed between the natives and the French, and 

 then, without a moment's warning or the least suspicion, 

 that terrible catastrophe took place when Marion and nearly 

 thirty of his officers and men were massacred and eaten. I 

 think we are all pretty well acquainted with the story. The 

 command devolved on Crozet, Marion's lieutenant, and after 

 his arrival home the journals were edited and published by the 

 Abbe Bochon. Thus they are known as " Crozet's Voyage." 

 They were excellently translated into English three years ago 

 by Mr. Ling Both, the Librarian of the Imperial Institute ; the 

 translation, however, does not reproduce the old plates and 

 charts of the original edition, nor the abbe's preface, nor the 

 appendix relative to De Surville — omissions which I pointed 



