Baie Fortescue. Ilot de la Baie St. Nicholas. Embouchure de la Riviere de Gennes.

Superb c.19th lithograph of the French ships, Astrolabe and Zélée, under the command of Dumont D’Urville in the Magellan Straits.

The ships reached Port Famine at the end of 1838 and after a few days rest, headed further south on January 8th. They sighted their first ice floe the following day and a few days later at 59° 30’S ‘an immense block in the form of a triangular prism’ could be seen, glistening when the fog lifted. Dumont d’Urville’s instructions were to follow Weddell’s route and see how far beyond the Englishman’s final latitude they could penetrate. His crew had been promised a bonus of 100 francs each if they reached 75°S and a further 20 francs for every degree further south. The ships reached 65° where they were confronted by an impenetrable ice floe. ‘To the limits of the horizon on both east and west, spread an immense plain of blocks of ice…’. D’Urville at this point was forced to turn back and on March 7 the two ships left the South Shetlands. After exploring the southern regions Dumont D’Urville the ships sailed to the Pacific visiting many of the islands, Singapore, Batavia, and reached Hobart at the end of 1839.

From D’Urville, D. Voyage au Pole Sud et dans l’Océanie sur les corvettes l’Astrolabe et la Zélée, exécute par ordre du roi pendant les années 1837-1838-1839-1840...Paris

References:
Ferguson, J. A. Bibliography of Australia Volumes 1-8, Canberra 1976 : 3184.
Hill, J. The Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages. San Diego 1974 : 508.
Sabin, J. A Dictionary of Books Relating to America, from its Discovery to the Present Time. New York. (1936) 1967 : 21256.
Phillips, P. A List of Geographical Atlases in the Library of Congress. Washington 1973 : 3244.

Collections:
Bibliotheque Nationale de France: ark:/12148/bpt6k976783
National Library Australia: Bib ID 1616679
Te Papa Museum of New Zealand: RB001474
State Library New South Wales: MMS ID 991011821529702626
State Library Victoria: RARELT ; 508.3 D89
State Library South Australia: 508.3 d++
Yale University Library & Art Gallery: Call Number 1998 Folio 16