de Langle, of the Astrolabe, improved on them, and got them to work by sails on board his ship, somewhat similarly equipped to windmills on shore."

On my return from France to England, I received letters from Mr. Russell, the officer who sailed from New Zealand in charge of Martin Bushart and the other interpreters, informing me that he had landed them safely at their places. of destination, and had himself arrived at Calcutta in August 1828, where he met with the welcome reception he justly merited, as the reward of his faithful services.-It also afforded me much pleasure to find from the Literary Gazette of the 12th of April 1828, that by the learning and research of Sir William Betham, Ulster king at arms for Ireland, the armorial bearings on the bottom of the silver candlestick found at Mannicolo, as formerly described, were traced to the noble French family of Collignon, and that consequently the article so marked most probably belonged to a scientific gentleman of that name who was attached to the Boussole in the botanical department.

Extract from the Literary Gazette, for April 12th 1828.

At length information has been received of the fate of the unfortunate navigator, which has so long been involved in doubt and obscurity.

Captain Dillon having heard that two large vessels had been wrecked on one of the islands of the group called the

Friendly or Navigator's Islands, the Indian Government fitted out and dispatched a vessel called the Research, for the purpose of making every possible inquiry and investigation.

Mr. John Russell, an officer on board the Research, wrote to his uncle, Sir W. Betham, of Dublin, a letter, dated Nov. 7, 1827, which was received in Dublin on the 9th March 1828, of which the following is an extract :

"New Zealand, Nov. 7, 1827.

"We have just arrived here after a voyage in search of la Pérouse, and I think we have been successful. Both his ships were wrecked the same night on a reef off the Mannicolo Island, which is situated in latitude 11 deg. 40 min. south, longitude 170 deg. east.+ One ship sunk in deep water immediately after striking, and all on board perished; the other was thrown on the reef, and some of the crew escaped, who saved sufficient materials from the wreck to build a small vessel, in which, with the exception of two men who continued on the island, and those who were killed by the natives, they left the place about five months after their shipwreck; their ultimate fate is still unknown. Of the two men who remained, one quitted the island in a canoe, the other died about three years since. We have obtained clear proof that the ships wrecked were French, having found and secured many pieces of silver and copper stamped with the fleur-de-lis. We have also two bells, one having on it an inscription-BAZIN M'A FAIT; on the other are the royal arms of France, We have also found a part of a plated candlestick, on which is engraved a shield with the following arms :-Azure a saltire; in chief a mullet, and in base a crescent or. Supporters two lions rampant regardant. The shield is surmounted with a viscount's coronet, We

It ought to have been stated " the Solomon Isles."

+ The latitude of our anchorage at Mannicolo was 11° 41' S., and the longitude 167° 5' E.

have searched all the neighbouring islands, to ascertain the fate of the small vessel and her crew, if perchance any of them might still exist, but without success.

Such is the statement of Mr. Russell, which, although very concise, in the absence of the official report, which will be sent to the Indian Government, so that some time must elapse before it reaches Europe, is very interesting and important.

The above-mentioned arms are those of M. de Colignon, botanist on board la Boussole; and as the crew of the ship which went down in deep water all perished, we may conclude that every article also went down with her: we may also take it for proven, that it was the Boussole, commanded by M. la Perouse himself, which was thrown on the ridge, as M. Colignon was attached to that ship.

A very mutilated and misprinted statement having appeared in the newspapers and in some of our contemporaries, we made application to Sir W. Betham, who has supplied us with the foregoing corrected statement.

But in order to put the point in a clear light, and shew that the fate of the intrepid and enterprizing la Perouse is at last, after the mystery and conjecture of forty years, no longer uncertain, we made a drawing of the arms, as described by Mr. Russell. On referring to a standard work of French heraldry,* we discovered that these were the arms of Colignon; and we also found, by consulting the published account of this unfortunate expedition, that Colignon was, as we have observed, the name of the naturalist in the Boussole. These facts afford conclusive evidence that the vessels whose wrecks have been traced could be no other than M. de la Pérouse's ships; and the crescent or in the base of the shield, the sign of affiliation, indicates that M. Colignon was a second son or branch of the noble family of that name. Our contempora ries in Paris will, no doubt, make further inquiries into this matter, which has so long excited the curiosity, and engaged the sympathy of Europe.

* Mercure Armerial, folio, Paris, 17th century.

A French gentleman, M. A. Hapdé, chevalier of the legion of honour, who has published a pamphlet on the subject of this voyage, has however intimated to me his opinion that the arms in question actually belonged to Captain de Langle, the commander of the Astrolabe, who was murdered at the Navigator's Islands.

Prior to my setting out for Paris with the relics, I read the following account of la Pérouse's expedition, which appeared first in a Paris paper of the 12th January, and was afterwards copied into the London Morning Chronicle of the 15th of that month.

Extract from the Morning Chronicle.

La Pérouse.-Captain Dumont d'Urville, commanding the Astrolabe, who was sent to look after the remains of the expedition under Pérouse, appears to have found out the spot where he was shipwrecked. It was on the south coast of the island of Vanekoro, and not Malicolo, that both ships were lost on the rocks, during a very dark night. The natives, questioned by an interpreter, declared that they saw an immense boat among the rocks, which was soon demolished, and swallowed up by the waves. About thirty of the people on board her escaped in the boat, and reached the island.

On the following day they saw another large vessel, similar to the one they had seen the day before, sink on a regular shore, where the water was sixteen or eighteen feet deep. She remained a long time without being destroyed. All those who were on board her landed, and joining the first comers, built a small vessel out of the wreck of the one which had gone on the rocks. After six or seven months' labour, they left the island, according to the opinion most generally entertained. The precise spot of the shipwreck was not, however, pointed out by the natives. The present of a piece of new cloth made them favourably disposed, and then they pointed out a place, where, at the depth of three or four fathoms, anchors, guns, balls, and an immense quantity of pig and sheet lead, were discernible. The boat of the Astrolabe succceded in weighing an anchor of eighteen cwt., a short gun, an eight-pounder, a pig of lead, and two brass swivels. Certain, from these memorials, that this was the spot where la Pérouse was wrecked, M. d'Urville caused a monument to be erected, with this inscription-" To the memory of la Pérouse and his Companions; the Astrolabe, March 4, 1828." A detachment of ten men marched round the mausoleum three times, and fired three rounds of musketry, while the ship fired a salute of 21 guns. After paying these pious honours to the manes of their illustrious countrymen, the crew of the Astrolabe, almost all ill, having escaped by a miracle the most dreadful danger, succeeded in reaching the Marianne Islands, where they were well received by the Spanish Governor, Don Jose Medinilla. They were at Amboyna July 18, 1828; on August 28, at Batavia; and on September 29, at the island of St. Maurice, whence the Astrolabe will return to Toulon, as soon as the crew has had that repose which is necessary after so many glorious toils.

I was surprised and grieved at the tenour of this communication, from which it certainly appeared that M. d'Urville was to be held up as