=O 
500 
ning to murmur at the delay which oc- 
curred, it was determined, if. this inter- 
esting young man did not return with the 
boat, that the expedition should immedi- 
ately sail without him. However, at 
three o’cluck on the 16th, most unexpect- 
edly, was brought on board this martyr 
co natural history, half dead with hunger 
and fatigue! We regret that we are here 
unable to give a detail cf what he expe- 
‘rienced during three whole days; and we 
shal! only observe, that having perceived 
clouds of smoke arising from different 
parts of the land, and seemingly but a 
short distance from the spot where he 
then was, he had directed his course 
thither, for the express purpose of ascer- 
taining the cause. . 
The smoke seemed to him to be very 
near, but his sight must have deceived 
him greatly on this occasion; for, after 
having walked about three leagues, he 
- still found himself at a great distance from 
it. It was thus, that he insensibly lost 
sight of his companions, and strayed so 
as not to be discovered. During his 
journey he beheld a number of curious 
objects ; and, among cthers, a valley co- 
vered with trunks of petrified trees, ail 
of which appeared to have been broken 
off at about a foot from the earth; every 
thing which distinguished the character 
of trees, was hewever easily perceptible. 
As to the smoke alluded to above, it was 
supposed tu have been produced by the 
fire made by the inhabitants of the coun- 
try, to clear the underwood, for many 
of them had been seen employed in this 
manner. In respect to quadrupeds, a 
few kanguroos only had been discover- 
ed; the traces of a different animal, were, 
however, observed. 
On the vessels quitting this port, De- 
cember 17th, they continued to coast 
along the shore of New Holland, until 
January 2d, 1793, wheiva contrary wind, - 
the want of water, and an accident which 
occurred to the helm of the Esperance, 
forced them to alter their course. 
Their passage consisted of nine degrees 
of longitude, and during the whole of that 
immense space they did not discover any 
piace proper for anchorage; any port, or 
any mouth of a_river, either great or 
small. Leaving, therefore, -every thing 
on this subject as obscure as_ before, 
they now shaped their voyage towards 
Van Diemen’s Land ; and-on the 2ist of 
January, once more anchored in the 
Bay of Tempests, where they had spent 
two months during the preceding year. 
Retrospect of French Literature—Biography. 
They also again traversed the adjoining 
strait, entered Adventure Bay, and there 
found some remains of the garden which 
had been planted in February, 1792, by 
Captain Bigh. They themselves sowed: 
some seeds, and placed an inscription 
there. 
On the 11th of March, they discovered 
the North Cape of New Zealand ; but 
here again they were unable to land on 
a coast which promised to be so fruit- 
ful in discoveries; their time did. not 
permit ; and in addition to this, they 
knew that La Pérouse, on leaving Botany: 
Bay, had steered towards the Friendly: 
Islands, and it was there they expected 
to hear tidings of him. 
On their arrival they accordingly made 
the necessary inquiries, on which the in- 
habitants enumerated. all the vessels 
which they had seen, since the arrival of 
Captain Cook, indicating the time by 
the number of their yam* seasons: 
among others, they recognized the pas- 
sage of La Peyrouse to the north of these 
islands, when he repaired, from the Na- 
vigator’s Isles to Botany Bay. He was 
then sufficiently near to purchase some: 
fish from those who were on the barks 
to the north of ‘Tongataboo; but they 
were assured, that he had: not re-ap- 
peared, on his return from Botany Bay ; 
hence it followed, either that the vessels 
in question must have perished during the . 
interval, or that he had changed his 
-course. It is extremely probable, ac- 
cording to the opinion of Beaupré, that, — 
having been prevented by the feeble 
state of his crew from reaching Tongata-"_ 
boo, he had been anxious to anchor at 
New Caledonia, where, according to 
_Cook’s narrative, he would have found 
plenty of provisions, and a hespitable 
reception from the inhabitants; but in- 
stead of what he had thus promised him- — 
self to meet with, he experienced death: 
on the frightful chain of rocks, where 
our voyagers, were themselves in-danger 
of perishing more than once. Indeed, 
if any of the crew had gained the main 
_land, they would have become victims to- 
the inbabitants, who, so far from pos- | 
sessing the humane character attributed _ 
to them by the celebrated English cir- - 
cumnavigator just alluded to, are sup-' 
posed to be the most ferocious aniropo- 
phegi in existence. : 
Bat if the Friendly Isles did not afford 
any satisfaction as to the principal aim of - 
* The yam is a species of potatoe. __ 
. > othe 
