Laplace in New Zealand, 1831

Description

During the course of an expedition around the world in the corvette Favorite, Captain Cyrille-Pierre-Théodore Laplace visited the Bay of Islands, where he and his officers carried out detailed scientific work. Their observations of the land and its native inhabitants, erudite and frank as they are, make fascinating reading from a distance of more than 150 years. But in addition to important scientific work, Laplace’s visit had significant repercussions for New Zealand history, setting in motion a chain of events which culminated inn the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Professor Sinclair, one of New Zealand’s leading French scholars, analyses the expedition’s visit in detail, providing a translation of Laplace’s own account, and identifying almost all of the geographic features which subsequently appeared on French charts. This book forms an important contribution to early New Zealand history and is published with the assistance of the Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

Published in 1998.