186 : ERYTHEA. 
California; and, by reason of its being the earliest, I shall 
give details that might not interest if this particular voyage 
of exploration had been made at a later period. 
In 1785 there sailed from the port of Brest, France, the 
finely equipped scientific expedition of La Perouse. Its 
object was to explore remote regions of the earth, gather data. 
for the confirmation or rejection of many disputed 
geographical questions, and to prosecute researches in the 
natural sciences for the benefit and welfare of mankind. 
This expedition is coeval with the beginning of the era when 
voyages of discovery were no longer only for conquest of new 
lands—but the scientific results were looked to as of vast 
importance to a nation and to the whole of civilization. The 
treaty of 1783 made this enterprise possible; it afforded to 
Europe, and to France in particular, a period of needed rest 
and recuperation anterior to the struggles of the Revolution 
and the Napoleonic wars. The French nation was undoubt- 
edly incited by the splendor of the achievements of the 
English discoverers, Anson, Carteret, and Cook. Two of the 
finest frigates in the French service, the Astrolabe and the 
Boussole, were selected. The commander, La Perouse, was 
noted for his splendid record in the French wars, his enter- 
prising character, his scientific acquirements and his manly 
accomplishments. The National Assembly spared no 
expense; the Academy of France issued manifold instructions 
regarding the observations to be made and the care and 
preservation of collections. The scientific staff, which 
included some of the most distinguished Frenchmen of the 
day, numbered ten on the Boussole and seven on the 
Astrolabe, A botanist, a botanical gardener, and two botani- 
cal draughtsmen were among the number. Everything 
pointed to a sugcessful and brilliant issue. 
It was this expedition that in the course of its long voyage 
about the world anchored in the Bay of Monterey September 
14, 1786, five years prior to the visit of Malaspina. The 
headland of Point Pinos rose to the south covered with 
forest-trees then as now; along the low eastern shore bounded 
