It is an east wind blowing today on Easter Island, the same wind that filled the sails of the Astrolabe and the Boudeuse when Lapérouse came into view of the island on the night of April 8th to 9th, 1786. I am on Mount Terekava, the highest peak of the island. Below to the north, the deep blue waves crash against the jagged shores. In my hands, I hold the account of Lapérouse's voyage around the world. It is 11:30 in the morning, the time when the Boudeuse arrived in Cook Bay and dropped anchor next to the Astrolabe. In the distance, above the Bay, facing Hanga Roa, a Latam plane is approaching. Every day, it lands at that same time when Lapérouse reached Rapa Nui, a nod from the present to the past!
– Hubert Sagnières, Field notes 11:30 AM - May 12, 2024, Easter Island
1 Cover : « Islanders and Monuments of Easter Island », Lapérouse, Jean-François de. Voyage of La Pérouse around the World, published in accordance with the decree of April 22, 1791, and written by M. L. A. Milet-Mureau, Brigadier General in the Corps of Engineers, Director of Fortifications, former Constituent, and member of several literary societies in Paris, Imprimerie de la République, Paris, 1797, Atlas, plate 11.
Flight around the World with the PC-12 “Spirit of St-Exupéry” - 2024 Easter Island, Rapa Nui
Lapérouse left the port of Brest on August 1, 1785, for a world tour to explore the Pacific Ocean at the request of King Louis XVI of France. With James Cook’s recent disapearance, Louis XVI aimed to continue the work of the English navigator whom he greatly admired. In an extraordinarily precise and deeply human document, the King provided detailed instructions to Lapérouse:
« […] He will position himself at a latitude of 27 degrees 5 minutes, on the meridian of 108 degrees West, to search along this parallel for Easter Island, or Île de Pâque, located at 112 degrees 8 minutes longitude [and] he will anchor there. […] During his stay […], he will ascertain whether the human species there is perishing, as presumed based on the observations and opinions of Captain Cook. (2) »
2 Lapérouse, Jean-François. Voyage of La Pérouse Around the World, Vol.1, Imprimerie de la République, Paris, 1797, p. 32-33.
On the afternoon of April 9, 1786, at Easter Island, after anchoring next to the Astrolabe, Lapérouse welcomes aboard the Boudeuse the islanders who came to the ships in canoes. He writes in his logbook:
« The natives came on board with a smiling air and a confidence that gave me the best opinion of their character. More suspicious men might have feared, when we set sail again, being taken away and torn from their homeland; but the thought of treachery didn't even seem to cross their minds: they were among us, naked and unarmed; a simple string around their waists served to secure a bundle of leaves that covered their natural parts […]
I made various gifts to these Indians; they preferred pieces of painted cloth, each about half a yard long, to nails, knives, and glass beads; but what they desired most were hats: we had too few to give to many. At eight in the evening, I took leave of my new hosts, making them understand by signs that I would come ashore at daybreak; they embarked in their canoe, dancing, and threw themselves into the sea within two gunshot ranges of the shore, where the waves were breaking heavily: they had the foresight to make small parcels of my gifts, and each had placed theirs on their head to keep it dry. (3) »
On that next morning of the 10th, Lapérouse disembarks with Mr. de Langle. They split into two groups: Lapérouse stays near the bay to explore the surroundings of the village, while Mr. de Langle and his companions venture further inland.
« Four or five hundred Indians were waiting for us on the shore; they were unarmed, some covered with pieces of white or yellow cloth, but most were naked. Several were tattooed and had their faces painted red; their shouts and expressions showed joy; they approached to lend us a hand and help us disembark.
[…] […] We had brought from Chile everything necessary for several months, and we only desired to do good to this people; we brought them goats, sheep, pigs; we had seeds of orange, lemon, cotton, corn, and generally all the species that could succeed in their island. […]
We then divided into two groups. The first, under the command of Mr. de Langle, was to penetrate as far as possible into the interior of the island, sow seeds in all places that seemed suitable to propagate them, examine the soil, plants, agriculture, population, monuments, and generally everything that might be of interest among this very extraordinary people. The second, of which I was a part, contented itself with visiting the monuments, platforms, houses, and plantations within a league around our settlement. (4)
We arrived at Rapa Nui from the Gambier Islands aboard our Pilatus 'Spirit of St Exupery'. It's a long flight, but with favorable winds at altitude. The goal of our stopover on this island is to walk in the footsteps of Lapérouse and to rediscover the places described in his account and that of Mr. de Langle, as they appear in my book Daring French Explorations (5) This is our third exploration on Lapérouse in the Pacific, after Vanikoro in the Solomon Islands, and the Bay of Massacres in the Samoa Islands.
5 Sagnières, Hubert, Edward Duyker (FRW). Daring French Explorations,1714-1854, Trailblazing adventures around the world. Featuring Bougainville, Laperouse, Dumont d’Urville, and more., Flammarion, 2024, ISBN 978-2-08-042845-5.
Lapérouse stayed on Rapa Nui for only two days. The Atlas of the Voyage includes engravings of three plates: one of the moai and two other sketches. Armed with Duché de Vancy's engravings and Lapérouse's maps, we explore in the early morning the sites they visited 238 years ago around the landing place. We walk up the small cove, where the port is now located, under the fixed gaze of the moai. Those that Lapérouse saw and described so well!
As he approached the island, Lapérouse wrote:
« The Bay of Cook, on Easter Island or Rapa Nui, is located at 27° 11' south latitude and 111° 55' 30" west longitude. […]
The landing is quite easy at the foot of one of the statues I will soon discuss. At daybreak, I made all preparations for our descent ashore. I could flatter myself with the hope of finding friends there, as I had bestowed gifts upon all those who had come aboard the previous day […]. (6)»
![Enlargment of the village. « Plan of Cook's Bay » Lapérouse's Atlas […], plate 10.](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f9b7e4_9b202af63a1e4894b97847b937b5183f~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_980,h_714,al_c,q_90,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/f9b7e4_9b202af63a1e4894b97847b937b5183f~mv2.png)
6 Ibid., p. 79-80.
« The largest of the rough busts on these platforms, which we measured, is only fourteen feet six inches high, seven feet six inches wide at the shoulders, three feet thick at the belly, six feet wide, and five feet thick at the base. All the monuments that exist today, accurately depicted by Mr. Duché, appear very ancient; they are located in marshes, as indicated by the large quantity of bones found nearby. It remains to be explained how such a considerable weight was lifted without any support; however, we are certain that it is a volcanic stone, very light, and with levers of five or six fathoms, and by sliding stones underneath, one can, as Captain Cook explains very well, lift an even more substantial weight, and a hundred men are sufficient for this operation: there would be no space for the work of a larger number. I continued to examine this platform: it is the monument that has given me the highest opinion of the ancient skills of this people in construction; for the pompous term "architecture" does not apply here. It appears that they never used any cement; but they cut and shaped the stones perfectly; they were placed and joined according to all the rules of the art. » Ibid., p.86.
The sketches made by Gérard Bernizet, a geographic engineer aboard the Astrolabe, show that the large platform drawn by Vancy measures 80 feet, or about 24 meters. We measure the moai platforms within the perimeter covered by Lapérouse on April 10. There are many, but only one measures 24 meters! It now features five moai and six pedestals after its reconstruction. In Lapérouse's time, three were standing and three were fallen! We can perfectly recognize section MM of Bernizet's sketch when we look at the monument from the side, towards the north.
« Only a tenth of the land is barely cultivated, and I am convinced that three days' work is enough for each Indian to provide for a year's sustenance. This ease of providing for life's necessities has led me to believe that the land's produce is shared; especially since I am almost certain that the houses are communal, at least within an entire village or district. I measured one of these houses near our establishment; it was three hundred and ten feet long, ten feet wide, and ten feet high in the middle. Its shape resembled an overturned canoe; one could only enter through two doors, each elevated two feet, and by crawling on hands. This house can accommodate more than two hundred people: it is not the chief's dwelling, as there is no furniture and such a large space would be unnecessary for him. It forms a village on its own, along with two or three other small houses nearby. » Ibid., p.88.
« Some houses are underground, as I have already mentioned, but others are constructed with reeds, which proves that there are marshy areas in the interior of the island: these reeds are very artfully arranged and provide perfect protection from the rain. The structure is supported on a base of dressed stones eighteen inches thick, in which holes have been dug at equal distances to accommodate poles that form the frame by bending into an arch; reed mats line the space between these poles. (7)»
7 Ibid., p. 89.
The next day, we set out to follow in the footsteps of Mr. de Langle's explorations inland. Lionel, our guide, takes us south of the island towards the volcano described in his account. Along the way, we encounter another local guide, Yoyo, who delves into the maps of Lapérouse's journey with us. The discussion revolves around the size of the large vegetal huts: 310 feet, 100 meters. To their knowledge, it's exaggerated! They've never heard of such a thing. And yet! From our experience, the accounts we've worked with for this expedition have always been accurate and precise. Cook also mentions it! We spend several hours assessing the distances, finally pinpointing the location of this structure at the foot of the third small mountain overlooking the town. These are now homes with gardens and a small farm nearby. It would require excavation, permissions... The extend of our exploration ends there!
Of his expedition, Mr. de Langle reports:
« We saw, on different stones that made up these platforms, roughly drawn skeletons, and we noticed holes blocked with stones, through which we thought there must be access to vaults containing the bodies of the dead. An Indian explained to us, with very expressive signs, that they were buried there and then they would ascended to heaven. We encountered on the seashore pyramids of stones arranged roughly like cannonballs in an artillery park, and we noticed some human bones in the vicinity of these pyramids and statues, all of which had their backs turned to the sea. In the morning, we visited seven different platforms on which there were standing or fallen statues; they differed only in size: time had wrought more or less havoc on them, depending on their age. (8) »
« At the southern tip of the island, we saw the crater of an ancient volcano whose size, depth, and regularity excited our admiration. [...] Father Receveur, who descended into it, reported to us that this marsh was bordered by the most beautiful plantations of banana and mulberry trees. It appears, as we observed while sailing along the coast, that there has been a considerable landslide towards the sea, which caused a large breach in this crater; the height of this breach is one-third of the entire cone, and its width is one-tenth of the upper circumference. The grass that has grown on the sides of the cone, the marshes at the bottom, and the fertility of the adjacent lands indicate that the subterranean fires have been extinguished for a long time: we saw at the bottom of the crater the only birds we encountered on the island; they were sea swallows. (9)»
We continue our exploration of the island, advancing further north along the west coast, beyond the territories recognized by Lapérouse and M. de Langle. We aim to find the moai that Cook and Lapérouse did not have time to discover. And yet, these moai were meant for them: Ahu Aviki, the seven moai of the navigators, those who gaze at the sea on the horizon, the only ones facing the sea!
8 Ibid., p. 99.
9 Ibid., p. 100-101.
On April 10, 1786, Lapérouse returns on board and prepares to continue his world tour:
« At one o'clock in the afternoon, I returned to the tent with the intention of going back on board, so that Mr. de Clonard, my second, could go ashore in his turn: I found almost everyone there without a hat and handkerchief; our kindness had emboldened the thieves, and I had not been distinguished from the others. An Indian who had helped me to descend from a platform, after rendering me this service, took my hat and ran off at full speed, followed, as usual, by all the others […] 10 »
10 Ibid., p. 90-91.
« Departing from Cook Bay on Easter Island, on the evening of the 10th, I sailed northward, keeping the coast of the island about a league away, under the light of the moon. We only lost sight of it the next day at two in the afternoon, and by then we were twenty leagues away. We were navigating unknown seas; our course was roughly parallel to that of Captain Cook in 1777, when he sailed from the Society Islands to the northwest coast of America.11»
Lapérouse had barely begun his round-the-world voyage and his exploration of the eastern and western shores of the Pacific Ocean. It was a tragedy in three acts, one of the greatest in French naval history. On July 21, 1786, 21 sailors perished in the Bay of the French, then on December 11, 1787, M. de Langle and 11 officers and sailors were stoned to death in Samoa in the Bay of Massacres, and finally, in April 1788, the ships were wrecked on the reefs of the Solomon Islands. With no news, France grew anxious. Amid the French Revolution, the French did not forget their heroes and launched numerous search expeditions. Even on the scaffold, Louis XVI asked, "Have there been any news of Lapérouse? "
Indeed, to this day, the search continues to understand what became of the expedition, and who knows, perhaps to rediscover the 400 sealed barrels filled with treasure that vanished with it.
11 Ibid., p. 104.
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