Caplain Freycinef a Voyage uf Discovery. 



250 



lou ia the early part of 1817, «i"<l f'T- 

 uislied with (^very article necessary for 

 a long voyafce ; she received a picked 

 crew, aud herothcers were distinguish- 

 ed by tlie extent of their Ivuowlrdge. 

 , A uniueroiis collection of the b('st in- 

 struments for natural science and nau- 

 tical astronomy were put on board, to 

 be used in t)ie experiuienls and obser- 

 vations which were the essential objtjcts 

 of the voyage. 



The Royal Academy of Sciences 

 dr&vv up, for M. de Freycinet, notes 

 necessary to guide him in his researches 

 into general physics, natural history, 

 geology, mineralogy, &c. 



A fter long delays, occasioned by the 

 difficulty of getting on board difi'erent 

 objects necessary for the undertaking, 

 the Urania set sail on the 17fli of Sep- 

 tember, 181 7. 



Cknitrary winds obliged them to put 

 into OiI)raltar on the ilth of October, 

 and she did not arrive at Santa Cruz, in 

 the island of Teneriftc, before the 22nd 

 of the same month. 



This port would have been a commo- 

 dious place for making observations of 

 various kinds, but the necessity of first 

 submitting to a long quarantine, deter- 

 mined M. de Freycuiet to stop only for 

 six days; and on" the 28th of October 

 he sailed for the Brazils. 



On the 6th day of December Cape 

 Frio was observed, and its geographi- 

 cal position verified. The Urania 

 entered Rio de Janeiro the same night, 

 where she remained until the 29th of 

 January. 



This stay of nearly two months was 

 not so usefully employed as M. de Frey- 

 cinet wished. Some ditKciiltics at first 

 opposed themselves to the establish- 

 ment of an observatory on shore. The 

 bnd weather, too, obstructed the astro- 

 nomical obsei-i'ations ; but those on 

 magnetism, and the oscillations of the 

 pendulum, were made with tlie greatest 

 care; and at the same time the nu- 

 merous specimens of natural histoiy 

 and drawings of all kinds commenced 

 the valuable collections which were to 

 be the fruits of the expedition. 



The passage from Rio Janeiro to the 

 Cape of Good Hope was marked by a 

 melancholy e^-ent, which deprived M. 

 de Freycinet of one of his ablest col- 

 leagues. M. Laboide, an oificci- of dis- 

 tinguished merit, au accurate observer, 

 a good draughtsman, and who joined 

 to tliese excellent qualities a charac- 

 ter the most sociable, diec! in the llo^ver 

 of his age. 



[April 1, 



The Urania remauiie<l in Table Hay 

 from the 7lh of March till the .5th of 

 April ; and from thence she sailed to 

 Fort Louis, in tlie IsU; of France, where 

 they arrived on the 5th of May. 



M. de Freycinet praises pa,rticularly 

 the reception which lie met with during 

 these tM^o stoppages from Lord C. So- 

 merset, the Governor of the (Jape; and 

 from Mr. G. Smith, chief judge and 

 commissioner of justice at Port Louis, 

 from whom he received the greate.st 

 facilities, as well for the esfublisliment 

 of iiis observatory on shore, as for the 

 advancement of every thing which 

 could contribute to tile success of liU 

 mission, '' "'! 



Port Louis, placed nearly iii llie 

 samelatitude as Rio de .Janeiro, aud at 

 a distance of more than 100 degrees iu 

 longitude, was favourably situated for 

 observations I'esjiecting the |M-.udulum. 

 Tiiose were made in detail, as well as 

 ex{)eriments, the objects of which >*ere 

 to enlarge the study of magnetism and 

 of meteorology. 



A very considerable damage, wTncli 

 had torn ofTthe copper sheathing of the 

 Urania, did not allow them to put to 

 sea until the 16th of July. The cor- 

 vette stopped only some days at the Isle 

 of Bourbon to take in provisions, and 

 then directed her course towards ttie 

 coast of New Holland, the northern 

 extremity of which was see^ op, the 

 11th of September, 1S18. .,.?.,.. 



The Urania coasted along af a mo- 

 derate distance ; and having fiillen in 

 with Endracht's Land, she followed it 

 until she arrived at the entrance of Sea 

 Dog's Bay, from whence, after a short 

 stay, she sailed, on the LUli of Sep- 

 tember, to the anchorage before ffie 

 peninsula of Perou. 



An observatory was at first establish- 

 ed on shore, and then they were epi- 

 ployed in procuring, by means of dis- 

 tillation, water fit to be drank. Two 

 stills had been shipped at Toulon for 

 this purpose. Numerous defects, which I 

 it may probably be easy to remedy in 

 other vessels, rendered almost null the 1 



1)roducts of the ap]>aratus placed on 1 

 )oard the corvette ; but that which was ; 

 put up on shore gave, in sullicient 

 abundance, water pleasant to drink, 

 and in 'Nvhich they could discover no 

 noxious quality. 



The Urania sailed on the 2dth of 

 September ;' the intention of 1\L de 

 Freycinet being to sail for Timor, in 

 order (o ascertain some points respect- 

 ing its geographical jwsitiolis, of which 



