Vue de l’entree de la Baie de San-Francisco. (hte. Californie.)

Rare lithograph of San Francisco from one of the rarest of all French voyages of discovery. This is one of the earliest depictions of San Francisco.

The Venus had left Kamchatka for the Aleutian Islands, having confirmed that the island of ‘Nuniwak’, shown on some British charts, did not exist, he next looked for ‘Saavaty Island’, supposedly discovered by some Japanese sailors, but with the same result. The Venus then headed for California and anchored in Monterey Bay on 18/10/37. Dupetit-Thouars found the settlement in ruins, with only a handful monks and few native Amrecian families left. The ships stayed until 14/11/37.

From the official account by Abel du Petit-Thouars, Voyage Autour du Monde sur La Venus 1836-1839.