An Officer of the Blue: Marc-Joseph Marion Dufresne, South Sea Explorer, 1724-1772French explorer Marion Dufresne was the man who reached Tasmania before the English. His expedition was the first to encounter the Tasmanian Aborigines and was a precursor of the great voyages of La Perouse, d'Entrecasteaux, Baudin and d'Urville. To Australian and New Zealand readers this elegant biography will be, as Frank Horner writes, 'a reminder, or a revelation of the international context in which the English explorations of their homelands took place'. The eighteenth-century conflict between Britain and France is mirrored in Marion Dufresne's life. The parallels with Cook are striking. Like his English contemporary, Marion was a brilliant mariner who proved his skills in merchant shipping before joining his nation's Royal Navy. Like Cook he was involved in scientific efforts to observe the Transit of Venus and sought the Southland in uncharted waters. Finally, he too died tragically at the hands of Polynesians. |
Contents
The Lure of the South Land | 110 |
Van Diemens Land | 126 |
New Zealand | 137 |
Copyright | |
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Aborigines According anchor Archives du Port Archives Nationales Bay of Islands Berryer Bibliothèque boat Bougainville Bourbon Bourdonnais Brest British Cape Captain Castries Charles Chevalier Chevillard de Montesson Clesmeur coast colony command Compagnie des Indes Comte d'Argenson convoy corsair crew d'Aché d'Aiguillon d'Après de Mannevillette Digue Diligente Duc d'Aiguillon Duc de Bourbon Dufresne's Duyker English European expedition explorer flûte folio François French Fresne frigate Governor guns historian Ibid India Isle de France Jacobite Jean Roux journal June land letter lieutenant longboat Lorient Magon Malouin Maori Marine B¹ 317 Marine C7 Marion Dufresne Marquis de Castries Mascarin masts merchant Montaran Moturua Nantes naval navy officers Ollivier trans Paris pièce Pierre Pingré Poivre Pondicherry Port Louis Praslin Prince de Conty returned Rodrigues Roth trans sailors Saint Malo Seychelles ships slaves South St-Georges Tasmanian Tasmanian Aborigines Ternay trade vaisseau vessels Vilaine voyage Warren wrote Zealand