LAPEROUSE, John Francis Galupe de, a French navigator, distinguished for talent, enterprise, and philanthropy, and memorable on account of his mysterious fate, was born at Albi, in Languedoc, in the year 1741. He received his education at the Marine School, and at an early age entered the naval service of his country. He rapidly rose to distinction, and, in 1782, when France and England were at war, he was intrusted with the command of an expedition destined for the destruction of the English settlement at Hudson’s Bay. He was completely successful in his enterprise, having destroyed Fort York, and taken the English commander prisoner. Some acts of humanity which he performed on this occasion cannot be overlooked, especially in the life of an individual whose own unhappy fate must always excite our pity and regret. When on the eve of his return home, he was informed that a number of the English, to escape falling into his hands, had abandoned their habitations, and sought an asylum in the woods, where, without food or shelter, they must inevitably fall victims to the rigours of the climate. His orders were utterly to destroy the settlement; but the man prevailed over the commander, and the fugitives were abundantly supplied with provisions, arms, and ammunition. The papers of the governor of Fort York, which had fallen into his hands, were also generously returned to their owner. After the restoration of peace, France resolved on prosecuting maritime discovery; and having fitted out two vessels, the Boussole and the Astrolabe, appointed Laperouse to the command of the expedition. It set sail from Brest on the 1st of August 1785, and after touching at the coast of Brazil, proceeded to Conception Bay in Chili, where the ships were refitted, and provisions taken on board. Laperouse next visited Owhyhee, one of the Sandwich Islands, and then set sail for the north-west coast of America, which he reached towards the end of June 1786, and spent some time in exploring. A port was discovered, which was named Port des Françaises, and here the vessels cast anchor, after narrowly escaping shipwreck. Nothing of moment occurred during their stay at this place, except the loss of two boats, and twenty-two men, to whose memory Laperouse, with his characteristic humanity, erected a monument, bearing an appropriate inscription. Having refitted his ships at a settlement in California, our navigator steered for China; and, in crossing the North Pacific Ocean, discovered Necker Island. Various parts of Asia were successively visited, and the straits which bear the name of Laperouse were discovered. Towards the end of 1787, Laperouse landed on Maouna, one of the Navigator Islands, where the commander of one of the vessels, and twelve other individuals, were massacred by the natives. The long boats were likewise destroyed by the savages, so that it was found necessary to go to Botany Bay, where the expedition arrived on the 26th of January 1788. After building new boats, and taking in supplies, Laperouse set sail from this place in March, having previously written a letter to France, stating his intention to continue his researches till December, when, after visiting the Friendly Islands, he expected to arrive at the Isle of France. This was the last intelligence received of the fate of the expedition, and for a period of nearly forty years not the slightest trace of the course which it had taken could be found, although, in 1791, two frigates were despatched from Brest in search of it. Some years ago, however, public attention was attracted to this mysterious affair, by the publication of a work by Captain Dillon, an English commander, in which a detailed account was given of there having been found on an island of the Pacific Ocean, one of those belonging to the group called the New Hebrides, various articles which had belonged to the two vessels of Laperouse. The facts discovered by Captain Dillon were, that the two ships struck on a reef at Maunicoo, in lat. 11. 4. S. long. 169. 20. E.; that one of them immediately went down, and most on board perished, but that the greater part of the crew of the other escaped. With the remnants of the vessels the survivors constructed a craft, in which all but two individuals put to sea; but the ill-fated bark was never more heard of. The articles brought home were various parts of a ship, as well as a few domestic utensils, on some of which were stamped the national arms of France, and on others those of private families. Viscount Lesseps, a nobleman who had left the expedition at an early period, carefully examined these relicts, and gave it as his opinion, that in all probability they belonged to the Astrolabe and Boussole. Still, however, a veil hangs over the fate of Laperouse; and that the vessels wrecked on the island of Maunicoo were really those under his command, wants further confirmation. By the nobleman above named, Laperouse sent home journals and papers relating to the expedition, which were published at Paris in 1797, in four vols. 4to; and they have been translated into English, and frequently printed, principally in an abridged form.