Rare c.19th aquatint of Singapore, depicting a wooden house with an attap roof in a Malay village at the foot of Mount Faber, by Barthelemy Lauvergne ( 1804 – 1871), from the official accounts of the voyage of the French corvette La Bonite, under the command of Auguste-Nicholas Vaillant.
In 1836 Vaillant was given command of the La Bonite for a voyage of circumnavigation of the globe. The main purpose of Vaillant’s journey was to take several consular agents to various remote posts. La Bonite left Toulon on 6 February 1836 carrying a number of artists and scientists. They passed the Strait of Gibraltar, crossed the Atlantic and reached Rio de Janeiro on March 1836. They then rounded Cape Horn and reached Valparaíso, Chile on 17 June 1836. From there the expedition sailed via Peru to Honolulu, Hawaii, where they stayed from 28 September to 11 October 1836. The return journey took La Bonite via the Mariana Islands, Manila in the Philippines, Canton, Singapore, Kolkata, Pondicherry, Réunion, the Cape of Good Hope and onto Brest, which was reached on 6 November 1837. No crew members were lost in the 21-month voyage.
From: Vaillant, A.N. Voyage around the World carried out during the years 1836 and 1837 on the Corvette La Bonite commanded by Mr. Vaillant Captain of the Ship. Published by order of the King under the Auspices of the Department of the Navy.
References:
Hill, J. The Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages. San Diego 1974 : 1752.
Sabin, J. A Dictionary of Books Relating to America, from its Discovery to the Present Time. New York. (1936) 1967 : 98298.
Teo, Chong, Oh, Nineteenth Century Prints of Singapore. Singapore 1987 : Plate 11
Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID: 2871899
Yale University Library & Art Gallery: Q115 .V18
State Library New South Wales: 991012937359702626
Bibliotheque Nationale de France: ark:/12148/bpt6k6536329m
