Site A Umata Ile Gouaham (Umatac, Guam)

Superb lithograph of Umatac, Guam, from Dumont d’Urville voyage in the ships,Astrolabe and Zelle.

France
whose international standing had been overtaken by Britain’s naval
dominance, had not taken part in any major voyages of exploration in the
C18th. So it was this aim that King Louis-Philippe instructed Dumont d’Urville to mount an expedition to explore the southern regions of
Antarctica, Asia and the Pacific. The expedition left on two corvettes,
the Astrolabe and Zelle, under the command of Dumont d’Urville who had already sailed around the world on the Zelee. 

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 and Asia, visiting many of the islands, Singapore, Batavia, and
reached Hobart at the end of 1839.

After
a short period of rest in Hobart the ships headed south again on
January 1, 1840, this time reaching about 64°S and found themselves
suddenly surrounded by icebergs. On January 19, land was sighted, it was
completely covered with snow so high it was impossible to see the
summit. D’Urville named the coast, Terre Adelie after his wife. The
expedition had established the approximate position of the magnetic pole
and d’Urville felt that their task had been accomplished and left
Antarctica and headed for New Zealand.

The maps and views were
published in the official accounts of the voyage and are among the
finest ever produced of Antarctica and intended to reflect France’s
rightful place on the international stage. 

 Embossed blind stamp “Gide Editeur Paris” denoting that is from the original edition of Voyage au Pole Sud.