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Re: The lost expedition of La Perouse
From: Frank Reed CT
Date: 2005 Jun 11, 03:05 EDT
From: Frank Reed CT
Date: 2005 Jun 11, 03:05 EDT
Marc, you wrote: "I assume what was recovered was really an octant rather than a sextant?" Sextants were developed and became popular originally for lunar distance observations. Many of their features and their differences from octants can be traced to this usage. They are generally metal, considerably more accurate, and of course have a larger arc than octants. I would guess that de la Perouse shot lunars on his voyage and since his logbook up to Botany Bay was sent home and presumably still exists, maybe we can find out. Interestingly, at this time, the French almanac "Connaissance des Temps" was only released one year in advance and so its lunar distance tables would not have been particularly useful for a global journey like this. Quite possibly, de la Perouse took copies of the British Nautical Almanac with him since they were available several years in advance. Go here: http://www.operationlaperouse2005.com/album.htm and scroll down to the middle to see the sextant that was recovered from the wreck site (click to enlarge). -FER 42.0N 87.7W, or 41.4N 72.1W. www.HistoricalAtlas.com/lunars