Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ication for measuring the angular distance between various heav-
enly bodies. Sometimes Bougainville took his own readings for the
sake of comparison and noted the results in his journal. Whenever
possible Veóron went ashore to make his sightings under more stable
conditions and twice he observed eclipses. All his calculations were
checked against the ship's charts and Bougainville's readings. Al-
ways there were discrepancies and the discrepancies were not even
constant. They might be several degrees or only a few minutes in
disagreement. Sometimes they erred to the east, sometimes to the
west. Islands shown on Bougainville's Pacific charts were, in reality,
nowhere to be seen. Similarly unexpected chunks of land showed up
in what should have been empty ocean. Even familiar landmarks ap-
peared in the 'wrong' place. For example, the position of the Azores
as calculated by M. Veóron's methods differed by 200 nautical miles
from that shown on the chart. Bougainville's scientific approach to
the problems of longitude measurement was a long overdue initiat-
ive. He and Veóron established for the first time the actual width of
the Pacific Ocean. But overall it must be said that their work clearly
illuminated the extent of the problem rather than provided a lasting
solution. However, the French might with some justification claim
that their first circumnavigation, unlike contemporary British ven-
tures, was planned in a spirit of scientific enquiry
It is a measure of the importance the government placed upon
it that Bougainville was equipped with a newly-built frigate, the
Boudeuse.
However, from the start, the commander was worried
about his vessel. The
Boudeuse
was designed as a sleek, fast-moving
warship. She was armed with twelve-pounders and carried a great
deal of sail. She was a greyhound of the sea. But Bougainville needed
a cart-horse, a stalwart ship that he could cram with supplies and
which would stand up to the buffetings of the ocean. His worst fears
were realised when the first Atlantic storm carried away the
Boudeuse's
foretop and maintop and the overloaded vessel took in
