MEMOIR OF AUGUSTE BRAVAIS. 151 



cumstauces. M. De Blosseville, already celebrated for two important 

 scientific voyages, had received, iu 1833, the command of the brig La 

 Lilloise, charged with the superintendence of the tisliery iu the seas of 

 Iceland, and was accompanied, as second iu command, by M. LePele- 

 tier d'Aunay. Both these young officers were animated by an ardent 

 zeal for discovery, and had i)romised to efltect for the advancement of 

 science all that was com])atible with the objects of their official mission. 

 After a thorough exploration of the coasts of Iceland, they determined 

 to reconnoiter the east coast of Greeuland, which had been blockaded 

 by ice for centuries. On a first attempt they penetrated, July 20, iu the 

 midst of broken ice, to a distance of about twenty-four leagued from 

 Greenland. They could already take the bearings of the mountains, but 

 their vessel, whose construction Avas not suitable for an enterprise of 

 this sort, having undergone great damage from the floating ice, they 

 had been constrained to disengage themselves with a view to repairs, 

 while decided on making afterward a new attempt. There was rea- 

 son to suppose that, in fact, they had become a second tune entangled 

 in the ice toward the end of August. From the 2oth none of the fish- 

 ing: barks had seen the Lilloise. 



Much solicitude had been naturally excited during the ensuing winter 

 for the fate of the expedition, and in the spring of 1831 a vessel was 

 sent in search, whose return without success aflbrded only new grounds 

 for anxiety. In lS3ii the attempt was renewed, and the corvette La 

 Recherche, commanded by M. Trehouart, was dispatched on a similar 

 mission. M. Gaimard, who six years before had taken an active part 

 in the discovery, on the reefs of Vanikoro, of the remains of La 

 Perouse's expedition, generously proffered his services to co-operate iu 

 the search for M. Ue Blosseville. Desiring at tlie same time that the 

 exploration should subserve the interests of science as well as of hu- 

 manity, he associated with himself several distinguished savants, art- 

 ists, and men of letters. Such was the nucleus of the Scientific Com- 

 mission of the North. 



All efforts to discover traces of the missing vessel were fruitless ; but 

 the scientific commission having collected in Iceland the elements of a 

 magnificent work, the design was embraced of exploring also Spitzber- 

 gen and Lapland, and of leaving a part of the scientific body to winter 

 in the latter country, in order to make observations in physics and 

 meteorology. It was determined to increase the number of savants who 

 composed the commission, and M. Martins, one of our best botanists 

 and a distinguished meteorologist, was added to it, together m ith M. 

 Bravais and several learned Scandinavians. Instructions were asked 

 of the Academy of Sciences, and their preparation was confided to a 

 special commission, whose recommendations were ado^jted in the sitting 

 of April 23, 1838. 



The Recherche was equipped anew, and, under the command of M. 

 Fabvre, left the port of Havre June 13, 1838, bearing the greater part 

 of the members of the commission and all the material necessary for 

 their operations. After touching at Drontheim, the ancient capital of 

 "Norwny, Avhere she received the Swedish, Norwegian and D^mish 

 savants designated by their respective governments, and at Hammer- 

 fest, where she landed the stores provided for wintering, the Recherche 

 turned her head toward Spitzbergen and moored, July 25, in the roads 

 of Bell Sound, on the western coast of that group of islands, in 70° 

 30' north latitude. The savants and officers of marine immediately 

 nd dressed themselves to their work. Astronomy, physics, meteorology; 

 the movements and temperature of the sea ; the vast glaciers descending 



