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1The Recherche, after touching at several points in the Pacific, cast anchor before Vanikoro, 7th July, 1827, in that
2same harbour of Vanou where the Nautilus was at this time. There it collected numerous relics of the wreck--iron
3utensils, anchors, pulley-strops, swivel-guns, an 18 lb.-shot, fragments of astronomical instruments, a piece of crown
4work, and a bronze clock, bearing this inscription--"Bazin m'a fait," the mark of the foundry of the arsenal at Brest
5about 1785. There could be no further doubt. Dillon, having made all inquiries, stayed in the unlucky place till
6October. Then he quitted Vanikoro, and directed his course towards New Zealand; put into Calcutta, 7th April, 1828, and
7returned to France, where he was warmly welcomed by Charles X. But at the same time, without knowing Dillon's movements,
8Dumont d'Urville had already set out to find the scene of the wreck. And they had learned from a whaler that some medals
9and a cross of St. Louis had been found in the hands of some savages of Louisiade and New Caledonia. Dumont d'Urville,
10commander of the Astrolabe, had then sailed, and two months after Dillon had left Vanikoro he put into Hobart Town.
11There he learned the results of Dillon's inquiries, and found that a certain James Hobbs, second lieutenant of the Union
12of Calcutta, after landing on an island situated 8° 18′ S. lat., and 156° 30′ E. long., had seen some iron bars and red
13stuffs used by the natives of these parts. Dumont d'Urville, much perplexed, and not knowing how to credit the reports
14of low-class journals, decided to follow Dillon's track. On the 10th of February, 1828, the Astrolabe appeared off
15Tikopia, and took as guide and interpreter a deserter found on the island; made his way to Vanikoro, sighted it on the
1612th inst., lay among the reefs until the 14th, and not until the 20th did he cast anchor within the barrier in the
17harbour of Vanou. On the 23rd, several officers went round the island and brought back some unimportant trifles. The
18natives, adopting a system of denials and evasions, refused to take them to the unlucky place. This ambiguous conduct
19led them to believe that the natives had ill-treated the castaways, and indeed they seemed to fear that Dumont d'Urville
20had come to avenge La Perouse and his unfortunate crew. However, on the 26th, appeased by some presents, and
21understanding that they had no reprisals to fear, they led M. Jacquireot to the scene of the wreck. There, in three or
22four fathoms of water, between the reefs of Pacou and Vanou, lay anchors, cannons, pigs of lead and iron, embedded in
23the limy concretions. The large boat and the whaler belonging to the Astrolabe were sent to this place, and, not without
24some difficulty, their crews hauled up an anchor weighing 1,800 lbs., a brass gun, some pigs of iron, and two copper
25swivel-guns. Dumont d'Urville, questioning the natives, learned too that La Perouse, after losing both his vessels on
26the reefs of this island, had constructed a smaller boat, only to be lost a second time. Where, no one knew. But the
27French Government, fearing that Dumont d'Urville was not acquainted with Dillon's movements, had sent the sloop
28Bayonnaise, commanded by Legoarant de Tromelin, to Vanikoro, which had been stationed on the west coast of America. The
29Bayonnaise cast her anchor before Vanikoro some months after the departure of the Astrolabe, but found no new document;
30but stated that the savages had respected the monument to La Perouse. That is the substance of what I told Captain Nemo.
31"So," he said, "no one knows now where the third vessel perished that was constructed by the castaways on the island of
32Vanikoro?" "No one knows." Captain Nemo said nothing, but signed to me to follow him into the large saloon. The Nautilus
33sank several yards below the waves, and the panels were opened. I hastened to the aperture, and under the crustations of
34coral, covered with fungi, syphonules, alcyons, madrepores, through myriads of charming fish--girelles, glyphisidri,
35pompherides, diacopes, and holocentres--I recognised certain debris that the drags had not been able to tear up--iron
36stirrups, anchors, cannons, bullets, capstan fittings, the stem of a ship, all objects clearly proving the wreck of some
37vessel, and now carpeted with living flowers. While I was looking on this desolate scene, Captain Nemo said, in a sad
38voice: "Commander La Perouse set out 7th December, 1785, with his vessels La Boussole and the Astrolabe. He first cast
39anchor at Botany Bay, visited the Friendly Isles, New Caledonia, then directed his course towards Santa Cruz, and put
40into Namouka, one of the Hapai group. Then his vessels struck on the unknown reefs of Vanikoro. The Boussole, which went
41first, ran aground on the southerly coast. The Astrolabe went to its help, and ran aground too. The first vessel was
42destroyed almost immediately. The second, stranded under the wind, resisted some days. The natives made the castaways
43welcome. They installed themselves in the island, and constructed a smaller boat with the debris of the two large ones.
44Some sailors stayed willingly at Vanikoro; the others, weak and ill, set out with La Perouse. They directed their course
45towards the Solomon Islands, and there perished, with everything, on the westerly coast of the chief island of the
46group, between Capes Deception and Satisfaction." "How do you know that?" "By this, that I found on the spot where was
47the last wreck." Captain Nemo showed me a tin-plate box, stamped with the French arms, and corroded by the salt water.
48He opened it, and I saw a bundle of papers, yellow but still readable. They were the instructions of the naval minister
49to Commander La Perouse, annotated in the margin in Louis XVI's handwriting. "Ah! it is a fine death for a sailor!" said
50Captain Nemo, at last. "A coral tomb makes a quiet grave; and I trust that I and my comrades will find no other."
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