INTRODUCTION. xll 



he was not destined to enter on this voyage. These 

 scientists had been dispatched by the French 

 Academy, under the auspices of the Cardinal de 

 Luynes and Mons. Le Monier, to observe the transit 

 of Venus on the 6th of June 1761. Pingre sailed 

 from Mauritius on the 9th of May, and was, there- 

 fore, three weeks in getting to Rodriguez from Port 

 Louis in the corvette La Mignonne, a dead beat to 

 windward, reaching as far south as 28" 30'. The 

 astronomical party remained at Rodriguez until the 

 8th of September, on which date the Mignonne took 

 them back to Mauritius. Pingre's journal has never 

 been published, for its interest was overshadowed by 

 the voluminous quartos of Le Gentil. The astrono- 

 mical details duly appeared in the Histoire de 

 r Academic (1761, p. 102) and iWinorres- (I 761, pp. 

 415, 985). Pingre planted his observatory on the 

 traditional site of Leguat's settlement, and it is 

 interesting to note his opinion of our adventurer 

 and the current judgment of contemporary opinion 

 at that period, presumably at Mauritius, as well as 

 in France. For doubtless Pingre, before starting, 

 would have taken an interest in ascertaining all 

 reliable information regarding the small islet where 

 he proposed to take his observations. He writes : 



"I made my observations in the 'enfoncement nomme de 

 Francois Leguat', on the northern side of the island, at the 

 spot marked A on the plan, in 19° 40' 40" latitude, and 80° 51' 

 30" long. The name which this locality bears has been given to 

 it in memory of .Fran9ois Leguat, a Bourguignois gentleman 

 who, having left France for the sake of religion, in 1089 



