Guide to the Voyage aux Terres Australes, 1800-1804

Summary

Collection number:

MS 1787

Creator:

Pierre Bernard Milius

Extent:

0.45 metres and (1 medium folio box)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Voyage aux Terres Australes, National Library of Australia, MS 1787'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

Milius' narrative of the voyage is written on leaves 3-93 recto (181 written pages of the total 258 1/2). He narrates the voyage of the Naturaliste to 18 May, 1802, when he was landed sick in Sydney, his stay in New South Wales, his voyage to China and thence to the Ile de France, his appointment to the Géographe after the death of Baudin and the voyage of the Géographe to Lorient.

Supporting documents occupy the rest of the MS. They include a French-Malay vocabulary, a Kaffir-French-Dutch vocabulary and a French translation of a Dutch account of a voyage to New Guinea by the sloop Walingen in 1663 (Extract from the Description of Banda by F. Valentijn, in his Oud en nieuw Oost Indien. Fol. 5 Pts. Dordrecht, 1724-1726. Decl 3, Stuk 2, pp.58-61.)

A short version of the narrative of the voyage to China and thence to the Ile de France was published in Annales Maritimes, 1817, pp.673-700 and 1818, pp.349-361. This includes the Kaffir-French-Dutch vocabulary but not the French-Malay one.

The narrative gives detailed descriptions of places, natives and natural history. Discoveries and observations in Australia occupy leaves 8-19, 33-56 (i.e. about 72pp.)

The MS. is bound in a folio volume, the cover straight grained red morocco, lettered on spine: Voyage aux Terres Australes. The volume has a red cloth covered solander case lined with soft white felt and lettered on lid: Voyage Aux Terres Australes / Admiral Milius MS. On the flyleaf there is a pencil note: [par le baron P.B. Milius]. The initials P.B. apparently considered insufficiently clear, have been crossed out and written more clearly.

Loose in the front of the volume are the following items: 1. Part of a typescript letter from Fisher Sperr (see part of letter on their letterhead loose in the volume of drawings: E. Denisse - Dessins Originaux, separate description of this volume follows.) The letter sketches the circumstances in which the manuscript was written and describes its contents. 2. Portrait in crayon on cartridge paper without watermark. Probably a portrait of Milius as a young man. The paper measures 8 1/2" × 7" and the drawing is about 5" high.

The MS. is written on laid ruled paper in two hands with a few manuscript corrections ascribed by Fisher Sperr to Milius. They suggest that the MS. was transcribed by the orders of Milius or possibly dictated by him. From its contents it is clear that it was composed after the return to France in 1804 and the style indicates that it was designed as a readable narrative for possible publication. On the other hand it has not been completed for this purpose for there are blanks for dates and little attempt seems to have been made to transcribe names correctly, e.g. the New South Wales names "Port Jakson" and "Auxbury" (Hawkesbury).

The leaves are numbered in pencil, 11. 1-2 being two unruled blank leaves. The MS. begins on the recto of leaf 3. The pencil numbering is not correct throughout and, although altered in places, is still incorrect from 1.101. With some repeats and omissions the numbering is ten out from 101 onwards. Someone has been aware of this for the leaf numbered 124 has been altered to 132. The last pencil number 125 is on the ruled blank leaf at the end. I make this 1.135.

The MS. is written on 11.3-134. The following pages are blank: 11.1-2, rectos and versos, 120 recto and verso, 64, 134 versos, 126 recto and about half of 100 verso.

Similar paper is used throughout the volume except for endpapers and flyleaves. The watermark Bouchet on one side of the sheet and a scallop shell on the other occurs throughout as far as I have checked. The name is usually I. ♥ Bouchet or I. Bouchet and the design of the shell varies. On some leaves the shell is surmounted by a five pointed star. The only record I have found of the name Bouchet and the shell surmounted by a five pointed star watermark is in Klepikov, S.A. - Filigrani ... XVII - XX centuries. Moscow, 1959. (Transliterated, the book is in Russian.) Section B of Klepikov's lists, Watermarks by foreign papermakers, no. 930A (p.78), lists Bouchet (cursive) - a five pointed star on a shell, 1818. (My translation). Of course the firm could have been in existence over a long period and have varied its mark. All that the watermarks I have noted prove is that the paper for the MS. was probably purchased in the early nineteenth century and chosen so that the paper throughout should match.

Biographical Note:

Pierre Bernard Milius (1773-1829) was born at Bordeaux. He entered the French Navy, became a lieutenant on 21 March 1796 and took part that year in the expedition to Ireland. He was taken prisoner and did not return to France until 1799. In 1800 he was appointed to the Corvette Le Naturaliste (Captain Emmanuel Hamelin), one of two ships under the command of Nicolas Baudin. The other ship was the Corvette Le Géographe and the object of the expedition was the exploration of the coasts of Australia. Milius was left ill at Port Jackson on 18 May, 1802. He sailed on the American ship Arthur (Captain Jenks) for China via the Solomons. He left China on 2 January, 1803 on the French ship La Diane (Commander le Chevalier Montault), disembarked in the Ile de France and was appointed to the command of the Géographe on 28 September, Baudin having died on the 16.

In 1805 Milius was in command of the frigate La Didon when she was captured by the English brig Phoenix on 10 August. He was taken prisoner for the second time and released on parole in June 1806. After further service he was sent in 1814 by Louis XVIII to take possession of French colonies in the Antilles, which by the recent treaty were to be returned to France. Milius was later made governor of the ile Bourbon and was created a baron for his services. His health broke down and he returned to France but was afterwards governor of Cayenne. He saw further service and was made a rear admiral in 1827. He was inspector of the ports of Brest, Cherbourg and Lorient. He died at Bourbonne-les-Bains on 11 August, 1829.

Indexed terms

Names:

Pierre Bernard Milius

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1460155) for the access conditions.

Conditions Governing Use:

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Voyage aux Terres Australes, National Library of Australia, MS 1787'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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