Baudin expedition of 1800 to 1802

The Baudin expedition of 1800 to 1802 was a French expedition to map the coast of Australia. Nicolas Baudin was selected as leader in October 1800. The expedition started with two ships, "Le Géographe" captained by Baudin and "Le Naturaliste" captained by Jacques Hamelin, and was accompanied by nine zoologists and botanists, including Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour.

The expedition reached Australia in May 1801. In April 1802 they encountered the British ship "Investigator" captained by Matthew Flinders, also engaged in charting the coastline, in Encounter Bay in what is now South Australia. The expedition later stopped at the British colony of Sydney for supplies, where Baudin bought a new ship — "Casuarina" — named after the wood from which it was made. From there he sent "Le Naturaliste" back to France, carrying all the specimens that the expedition had collected to that point.

From Sydney, the remaining ships headed to Tasmania, before continuing north to Timor. On their way home the ships stopped in Mauritius, where Baudin died of tuberculosis.

Crew

Captains: Nicolas Thomas Baudin (1754-1803) (Le Géographe) and Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin (1768-1839) (Le Naturaliste).

Naturalists: Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour (1773-1826), René Maugé de Cely, Stanislas Levillain (1774-1801), François Péron (1775-1810), Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent (left expedition at Mauritius), Désiré Dumont. Artist: Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (1778-1846) assisted by Nicolas-Martin Petit (1777-1804). Astronomers: Pierre-François Bernier (1779-1803) and Frédéric de Bissy (1768-1803). Cartographers: Charles-Pierre Boullanger Mineralogists: Louis Depuch, Joseph Charles Bailly

Sailors: Hyacinthe de Bougainville, midshipman second-class

References

*François Péron, Voyage de découverte aux terres Australes (3 volumes, Paris, 1807-1816)
*Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot (1748-1831), Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle (1816-1819)