Journal of a voyage from Brest to Siam in L'Oiseau, 1687-1688
Creator
Bremond, (Naval surgeon)
Call Number
MS 10724
Created/Published
[1687-1688]
Extent
0.10 m (1 volume)
Items
262
Scope and Content
On 4 August 1687, the French ship L'Oiseau sighted the northwest coast of Australia. Though the men aboard did not disembark, they made the first documented French sighting of the Australian coastline. This illustrated journal is one of several surviving descriptions of Australia made by travellers on L'Oiseau. The journal was made by the ship's surgeon, only known by his surname Bremond.
The ship, under the command of Captain Abraham Duquesne-Guitton (1653-1724) was one of five ships, part of the second embassy from French King Louis XIV to Siam (Thailand). The ships left Brest on 1 March 1687, departed Cape Town on 28 June and met with storms which sent them off course towards Western Australia. Of the five ships, only L'Oiseau sighted Australia. They continued to Batavia, reached Siam in October, stayed a month and returned via Nicobar Islands, Puducherry and the Ascension Island, reaching Brest on 20 July 1688.
Bremond's journal documents the entire voyage and and his drawings illustrate the topography, local inhabitants, flora and fauna of the Cape, Batavia, Siam, the Nicobar Islands, Puducherry and Ascension Island.
Bremond. (). Journal of a voyage from Brest to Siam in L'Oiseau, Retrieved July 13, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3308268343
MLA citation
Bremond. Journal of a voyage from Brest to Siam in L'Oiseau, : , . Web. 13 July 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3308268343>
Harvard/Australian citation
Bremond. , Journal of a voyage from Brest to Siam in L'Oiseau, , viewed 13 July 2025 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3308268343
Wikipedia citation
{{Citation
| author1=Bremond.
| title=Journal of a voyage from Brest to Siam in L'Oiseau,
| year=
| section=0.10 m (1 volume)
| publisher=
| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3308268343
| id=nla.obj-3308268343
| access-date=13 July 2025
| via=Trove
}}
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