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Seeing a canoe manned by not more than seven or eight men approaching the corvette, this "Shaki" and the rest came to entreat D'Urville most earnestly to kill the new arrivals, going so far as to ask for muskets that they might themselves fire upon them.
The expedition next sent out under the command of Captain Dumont d'Urville was merely intended by the minister to supplement and consolidate the mass of scientific data collected by Captain Duperrey in his voyage from 1822 to 1824. As second in command to Duperrey, and the originator and organizer of the new exploring expedition, D'Urville had the very first claim to be appointed to its command.
Guided by a young Papuan, D'Urville succeeded in making his way to the place where these last-mentioned dwelt. He found them gentle, hospitable, courteous creatures, not in the least like the portrait drawn of them by their enemies.
The vessels had been equally judiciously chosen, stronger than those of D'Urville, they were better fitted to resist the repeated assaults of the ice, and their seasoned crews had been chosen from sailors familiar with polar navigation.
There were long consultations in W.'s cabinet, and I went often to our house in the rue Dumont d'Urville to see if everything was in order there, as I quite expected to be back there for Christmas. A climax was reached when the marshal was asked to sign the deposition of some of the generals. He absolutely refused the ministers persisted in their demands.
This led the commander to despatch a mission consisting of MM. d'Urville, de Blosseville, Gabert, and Garnot to the capital of the island, Nossa-Senhora-del-Desterro, to make inquiries about the political change, and learn how far it might modify the friendly relations of the country with France.
But the French Government, fearing that Dumont d'Urville was not acquainted with Dillon's movements, had sent the sloop Bayonnaise, commanded by Legoarant de Tromelin, to Vanikoro, which had been stationed on the west coast of America.
When D'Urville regained the boat he found a dozen Papuans playing, eating, and seeming on the best possible terms with the boatmen. "In a short time," he says, "they had surrounded me, repeating, 'Captain, bongous, and offering various tokens of good will.
This beautiful insect is one of the finest found by Mr. Macgillivray. Only three specimens are recorded: those discovered by Admiral d'Urville, and described by Dr. Boisduval; Mr. M. brought home two, deposited with the rest of his collection in the British Museum. Ommatocarcinus macgillivrayi. Tab. 5 fig. 1.
The principal small detached reefs within the lagoon-channel have in this instance been represented. HOGOLEU, or ROUG, in the Caroline Archipelago; taken from the "Atlas of the Voyage of the 'Astrolabe," compiled from the surveys of Captains Duperrey and D'Urville; the depth of the immense lagoon-like space within the reef is not known.
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