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the ships of La Perouse, whose disappearance had interested the entire civilised world. He wished to reach Vanikoro, where, according to the Lascar, he would find many traces of the wrecked vessels; but the winds and opposing elements prevented him.

Dillon returned to Calcutta. There he made known his discovery to the Asiatic Society and to the East India Company. A vessel, to which they gave the name of the Research, was placed at his disposal, and he sailed on the 23rd of January, 1827, accompanied by a French agent.

The Research, having touched at several ports in the Pacific, anchored before Vanikoro on the 7th of July, 1827, in the same harbour of Vanou in which the Nautilus is now lying.

There they picked up many relics of the wrecks: iron utensils, anchors, block-strops, swivel-guns and shot, astronomical instruments, a part of the taffrail, and a bronze timepiece, with the inscription, Bazin m’a fait marked by the manufactory at Brest, 1785. Doubt was no longer possible.

Dillon remained at the ill-fated spot to complete his arrangements. In October he quitted Vanikoro, and sailing towards New Zealand, reached Calcutta on 7th April, 1828. He then proceeded to France, where he was kindly received by Charles X. But meantime Dumont d’Urville, ignorant of what Dillon had accomplished, had sailed to discover the scene of the shipwreck. He had learnt from a whaler that a medal and cross of St. Louis had been seen in the hands of savages in New Caledonia.

D’Urville then put to sea, and, two months after