120 MEMOIR OF C. F. I'.EAUTEMPS-BEAUPRE. 



When his name was thus conferred, M. Ueaulenips-Beaupre had been daily 

 prosecuting his labors for more than twenty months under the eyes of the 

 admiral and his olHcers, and the testimonial may, therefore, be regarded as the 

 more deliberate and honorable. 



" The same day," continues the admiral, "at half after 1 o'clock, we descried 

 New Caledonia, and in two hours were a mile distant from the reef on the eastern 

 coast of this great island, which seemed to be bordered by it, as the western 

 coast had been ascertained to be in 1792. * * * * As the entrance of 

 the harbor of Balade, wjiere I proposcjd to come to anchor, was only marked by 

 an interruption of the reef which borders the coast, we followed tliis reef closely 

 in order not to miss the opening. We reached the pass by 2 o'clock, and a 

 favorable tack gave us hopes of gaining the anchorage, when it was signalled 

 that the other frigate, V Esperancc, had struck." 



Happily the imperilled vessel was safely extricated, and the two frigates finally 

 cast anchor very nearly at tire spot where Captain Cook had done in 1774. 



" The naturalists of the expedition repaired, April 25, to the neighboring 

 mountains, and i\I. Beaupre ascended with them in hopes of discovering the 

 reefs with Avhich the channels of Balade are bestrown, and of fixing their position. 

 The sea was discernible to the east, west, and north, and the isles of Balabra, 

 Reconnaissance, and many other points which had been entered in the maps 

 of 1792 were recognized. The positions of these were determined by M. 

 Beaupre AA'ith reference to the observatory of Balade, with the view of con- 

 necting the trigonometrical operations of this year with those of the preceding 

 one. From the top of these mountains the shelf which borders the other side 

 of New Caledonia was perceived, and an interruption distinguished, which, after 

 renewed observations, seemed to correspond with that discovered the previous 

 year in visiting the western coast." 



The expedition left the roads of Balade May 9, 1793, and soon after encoun- 

 tered the dangerous reefs which stretch to the N W. of New Caledonia ; these 

 having been examined but imperfectly by Cook, have received the name of the 

 reefs of d' Enh-ecasteaux. Twice, at the break of day, were the ships of the 

 last-named navigator found to have so closely approached this barrier, that 

 there was barely room for the evolution by which they were extricated. Direct- 

 ing his course northeastwardly towards the island of Santa Cruz, the admii'al 

 gave the name of la Recherche to an island in the vicinity of the former, whose 

 latitude and longitude were determined to be, within but a few minutes, 11° 40' 

 south, and 164° 25' east. During the numerous courses made by the vessels 

 in the archipelago of Santa Oi.iz, M. Beaiitemps-Beaupre, favored by fine 

 weather, succeeded in fixing the position of a multitude of points, as well on 

 the principal island as its accessories. 



According to the method which he had adopted for making his observations, 

 and M'hich has since become of general use, he first made at each station a 

 draught of the coast, in which he indicated by letters or numbers not only the 

 most remarkable objects, but wrote the measures of the angles observed, the 

 bearings of the points with respect to one another, the estimate of distances, &c. 

 The draughts, on which were to be written the results of the obser\'ations made 



mucb do I icf^ret," exclaimed Sir Jolin, " tliat I was ignorant of the circumstance ! I should 

 have bestowed your name on the finest portion of the city." 



Captain Fhnders, who, in I801-1SU3, conducted an expedition "for the purpose of com- 

 pleting the discovery of that vast country" to which he gave the name of Terra Australis, 

 (afterwards changed to Australia,) and who published an account of his voj'age in two 4to. 

 volumes, accompanied by an atlas, bears testinion^', as well in notes engraved upon the maps 

 as in passages of the text, to the accuracy of the labors of our colleague. In the introduction 

 to the work it is said: "The charts of the baj's, ports, and arms of the sea at the southeast 

 end of Van Diemen's Land, constructed in this expedition by M. Beautemps-Beaupr6 and 

 assistants, appear to combine scientific accuracy and minuteness of detail, with an uncom- 

 mon degree of neatness in the execution. They contain some of the finest specimens of 

 marine surveying, perhaps, ever made in a new country." 



