Consequently We Should, By Observing
This Little Difference, Remind Ourselves Of Dentrecasteaux' Period And
Circumstances.
That, however, is by the way, and our main concern for the present is
with Laperouse.
As a boy, Jean-Francois developed a love for books of voyages, and
dreamt, as a boy will, of adventures that he would enjoy when he grew
to manhood. A relative tells us that his imagination was enkindled by
reading of the recent discoveries of Anson. As he grew up, and himself
sailed the ocean in command of great ships, he continued to read all
the voyaging literature he could procure. The writings of Byron,
Carteret, Wallis, Louis de Bougainville, "and above all Cook," are
mentioned as those of his heroes. He "burned to follow in their
footsteps."
It will be observed that, with one exception, the navigators who are
especially described by one of his own family as having influenced the
bent of Laperouse were Englishmen. He did not, of course, read all of
their works in his boyhood, because some of them were published after
he had embraced a naval career. But we note them in this place, as the
guiding stars by which he shaped his course. He must have been a young
man, already on the way to distinction as an officer, when he came
under the spell of Cook. "And above all Cook," says his relative. To
the end of his life, down to the final days of his very last
voyage, Laperouse revered the name of Cook.
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