Editing Jules Dumont d'Urville (section)

=== Second voyage of ''Astrolabe'' ===
[[File:Les Corvettes L'Astrolabe, watercolour by A. Mayer 1838 slnsw.jpg|thumb|left|The Astrolabe and the Zelee caught in Antarctic ice, watercolour by A. Mayer. (1838)]]
King [[Louis Philippe I|Louis Philippe]] approved the plan, but he ordered that the expedition aim for the [[South Pole|South Magnetic Pole]] and to claim it for France; if that was not possible, Dumont's expedition was asked to equal the most southerly latitude of 74°34'S achieved in 1823 by [[James Weddell]]. Thus France became part of the international competition for polar exploration, along with the United States and the United Kingdom.<ref group="note">The first British expedition was the 1839–43 voyage of [[James Clark Ross]] and [[Francis Crozier]]. The first American expedition left in 1838 and was led by [[Charles Wilkes]] after Ross’s 1831 conquest of the [[North magnetic pole]].</ref>

[[File:Dumont d'Urville 1837-1840.svg|thumb|Second voyage of the ''Astrolabe'']]
Dumont was initially unhappy with<!---"spiazzato" (?)---> the modifications made to his proposal. He had little interest in polar exploration and preferred tropical routes.  But soon his vanity took over and he saw the opportunity for achieving a prestigious objective.<ref group="note">At that time national prestige derived from polar exploration in the same way that it is derived from space exploration in recent times.</ref> The two ships, ''Astrolabe'' and ''Zélée'' were prepared for the voyage at Toulon. The Astrolabe was commanded by Dumont d'Urville, and Gaston de Roquemaurel as second, and La Zélée by Charles Hector Jacquinot. <ref> « Daring French Explorations, 1714–1854, Trailblazing adventures around the world. Featuring Bougainville, Laperouse, Dumont d’Urville, and more » Hubert Sagnières, Edward Dyuker, Flammarion, 2023, {{ISBN|2-08-042845-4}}</ref> In the course of the preparation Dumont also went to London to acquire documentation and instrumentation, meeting the [[British Admiralty]]'s [[oceanographer]], [[Francis Beaufort]] and the President of the [[Royal Geographical Society]], John Washington, both strong supporters of the British expeditions to the South Pole.<ref group="note">In the course of his stay in London Dumont expressed doubts that he had held for a long time on Weddell’s claim to have reached 74°34'S, provoking indignant reactions.</ref>

==== First contact with Antarctica ====
[[File:Atlas pittoresque pl 020.jpg|thumb|''[[French ship Astrolabe (1811)|Astrolabe]]'' making water on a floe 6 February 1838]]
''Astrolabe'' and ''Zélée'' sailed from Toulon on 7 September 1837, after three weeks of delay compared to Dumont's plans.  His objectives were to reach the most southerly point possible at this time in the [[Weddell Sea]]; to pass through the [[Strait of Magellan]]; to travel up the coast of [[Chile]] in order to head for Oceania with the objective of inspecting the new British colonies in Western Australia; to sail to [[Hobart]]; and to sail to New Zealand to find opportunities for French whalers and to examine places where a [[penal colony]] might be established.  After passing through the [[East Indies]], the mission would have to round the [[Cape of Good Hope]] and return to France.

Early in the voyage, part of the crew was involved in a drunken brawl and arrested in [[Tenerife]]. A short pause was made in [[Rio de Janeiro]] to disembark a sick official. During the first part of the voyage there were also problems of provisioning, particularly rotten meat, which affected the health of the crew. At the end of November, the ships reached the Strait of Magellan.  Dumont thought there was sufficient time to explore the strait for three weeks, taking into account the precise maps drawn by [[Phillip Parker King]] in {{HMS|Beagle}} between 1826 and 1830, before heading south again.

In the Strait of Magellan Dummont surveyed the coast trying to find out the ruins of [[Puerto del Hambre|Ciudad Rey Don Felipe]], a city founded in 1584 as part of a failed [[Spanish colonization attempt of the Strait of Magellan|Spanish colonization attempt]] to control the passage through the strait.<ref name=Martinic>{{cite book |last1=Martinic |first1=Mateo |author-link=Mateo Martinic |date=1977 |title=Historia del Estrecho de Magallanes |language=es |url=http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-10441.html |location=Santiago |publisher=Andrés Bello |pages=120 }}</ref> An expedition report recommended that a [[French colony]] be established at the strait to support future traffic along the route.<ref>Michael Morris, ''The Strait of Magellan'', Martinus Nijhoff Publisher, 1989, {{ISBN|0-7923-0181-1}}, pages 22 and ff.</ref> The strait was eventually [[Chilean takeover of the Strait of Magellan|settled by Chile in 1843]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=A history of the Chilean boundaries |last=Talbott |first=Robert D.|chapter=The Strait of Magellan |publisher=The Iowa State University Press |year=1974 |isbn=0-8138-0305-5 |edition=A Replica |location=|pages=82–84}}</ref>

Two weeks after seeing their first [[iceberg]], ''Astrolabe'' and ''Zélée'' found themselves entangled again in a mass of ice on 1 January 1838.  The same night the [[pack ice]] prevented the ships from continuing to the south. In the next two months Dumont led increasingly desperate attempts to find a passage through the ice so that he could reach the desired latitude. For a while the ships managed to keep to an ice-free channel, but shortly afterwards they became trapped again, after a wind change. Five days of continuous work were necessary in order to open a corridor in the pack ice to free them.

After reaching the [[South Orkney Islands]], the expedition headed directly to the South Shetland Islands and the [[Bransfield Strait]] separating them from Antarctica. In spite of thick fog they located some land only sketched on the maps, which Dumont named ''Terre de Louis-Philippe'' (now called [[Graham Land]]), the [[Joinville Island group]] and ''Rosamel Island'' (now called [[Andersson Island]]).<ref group="note">These were named respectively after the French King; [[François d'Orléans, Prince of Joinville]], son <!--- no evidence that Louis Philippe had a brother of this name---> of the King; and Vice Admiral [[Claude Charles Marie du Campe de Rosamel]], [[List of Naval Ministers of France|French Naval Minister]].</ref>  Conditions on board had rapidly deteriorated: most of the crew had obvious symptoms of scurvy and the main decks were covered by smoke from the ships' fires and bad smells and became unbearable.  At the end of February 1838, Dumont accepted that he was not able to continue further south, and he continued to doubt the actual latitude reached by Weddell. He therefore directed the two ships towards [[Talcahuano]], in Chile, where he established a temporary hospital for the crew members affected by scurvy.<ref group="note">38 cases on ''Zélée'' and 20 on ''Astrolabe''</ref>

==== Pacific ====
During months of exploration in the Pacific, the ship visited many islands in Polynesia. On their arrival in the [[Marquesas Islands]], the crews found ways "to socialise" with the islanders. Dumont's moral conduct was irreproachable, but he provided a highly summarised description of some incidents of their stay in [[Nuku Hiva]] in his reports. During the voyage from the [[East Indies]] to [[Tasmania]] some of the crew were lost to tropical fevers and [[dysentery]] (14 men and 3 officials); but for Dumont the worst moment during the expedition was at [[Valparaíso]], where he received a letter from his wife that informed him of the death of his second son from cholera.  Adélie's sorrowful demand that he return home coincided with a deterioration in his health: Dumont was more and more often hit by attacks of gout and stomach pains.

On 12 December 1839 the two corvettes landed at [[Hobart]], where the sick and the dying were treated. Dumont was received by [[John Franklin]], [[Governor of Tasmania]] and an [[Arctic]] explorer who later perished on the infamous [[Franklin's lost expedition|Franklin Expedition]], from whom he learned that the ships of the American expedition led by [[Charles Wilkes]] were berthed in Sydney waiting to sail south.

Seeing the consistent reduction of the crews, decimated by misfortunes, Dumont expressed his intention to leave this time for the Antarctic with ''Astrolabe'' only, in order to attempt to reach the South Magnetic Pole around longitude 140°. A deeply wounded Captain Jacquinot urged the hiring of a number of replacements (generally deserters from a French [[whaler]] anchored in Hobart) and convinced him to reconsider his intentions; ''Astrolabe'' and ''Zelée'' both left Hobart on 1 January 1840.  Dumont's plan was very simple: to head south, wind conditions permitting.

==== Turning south ====
[[File:Reconnaissance_de_la_Terre_Adelie,_le_20_Janvier_1840.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|''Reconnaisance de la Terre Adelie, 20 Janvier 1840'' ("Reconnaisance of [[Adelie Land]], 20 January 1840")]]
The first days of the voyage mainly involved the crossing of twenty degrees and a westerly current; on board there were further misfortunes, including the loss of a man. Crossing the 50°S parallel, they experienced unexpected falls in the air and water temperatures. After completing the crossing of the [[Antarctic Convergence]], on 16 January 1840, at 60°S they sighted the first iceberg and two days later the ships found themselves in the middle of a mass of ice. On 20 January<ref group="note">Instead of 19 January 1840, since Dumont d'Urville forgot to add one day on his diary when he passed the 180° meridian from the east, {{in lang|fr}} [http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/wp/ATCM29_wp019_f.doc ''Proposition de classement du rocher du débarquement dans le cadre des sites et monuments historiques'', Antarctic Treaty Consultative meeting 2006, note 4.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811130410/http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/wp/ATCM29_wp019_f.doc |date=11 August 2013 }}</ref> the expedition crossed the [[Antarctic Circle]], with celebrations similar to [[Line-crossing ceremony|crossing of the Equator ceremonies]], and they sighted land the same afternoon.<ref>[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k97685c.image.f2.langFR {{in lang|fr}} ''Voyage au Pôle sud et dans l'Océanie sur les corvettes "l'Astrolabe" et "la Zélée", exécuté par ordre du Roi pendant les années 1837-1838-1839-1840 sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont-d'Urville, capitaine de vaisseau'', Paris, Gide éditeur, 1842–1846, tome 8, p. 136-181, site of Gallica, BNF].</ref>

The two ships slowly sailed to the West, skirting walls of ice, and on 22 January,<ref group="note">Instead of 21 January 1840, since Dumont d'Urville forgot to add one day on his diary when he passed the 180° meridian from the east, [http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/wp/ATCM29_wp019_f.doc {{in lang|fr}} ''Proposition de classement du rocher du débarquement dans le cadre des sites et monuments historiques'', Antarctic Treaty Consultative meeting 2006, note 4] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811130410/http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/wp/ATCM29_wp019_f.doc |date=11 August 2013 }}</ref> just before 9 in the evening, some members of the crew disembarked<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att032_f.jpg |title={{in lang{{!}}fr}} ''Prise de possession de la Terre Adélie'' (plate 171 of ''Voyage au Pôle sud et dans l'Océanie sur les corvettes "l'Astrolabe" et "la Zélée"'', view from the west), site of Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, Documents, Historic Sites and Monuments |access-date=19 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113014741/http://ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att032_f.jpg |archive-date=13 November 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> on the north-westernmost and highest [[Débarquement Rock|islet]]<ref>[http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att030_f.jpg Photography of Débarquement Rock, site of Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, Documents, Historic Sites and Monuments]</ref><ref>[http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att028_f.gif {{in lang|fr}} Views of Débarquement Rock from north and south west, site of Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, Documents, Historic Sites and Monuments], length 244 m, height 18.7 m</ref> of the rocky group of [[Dumoulin Islands]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att026_f.gif |title={{in lang{{!}}fr}} The Dumoulin islands and Débarquement Rock in the ''Pilote de Terre Adélie'', site of Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, Documents, Historic Sites and Monuments |access-date=19 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113014736/http://ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att026_f.gif |archive-date=13 November 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att024_f.gif |title={{in lang{{!}}fr}} The Dumoulin islands by Dubouzet in 1840, site of Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, Documents, Historic Sites and Monuments |access-date=19 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113014736/http://ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att024_f.gif |archive-date=13 November 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> at 500–600 m from the icy coast of the [[Astrolabe Glacier Tongue]] of the time, today about 4&nbsp;km north from the glacier extremity near [[Cape Géodésie]], and hoisted the [[Flag of France|French tricolour]].<ref>[http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k97685c.image.f2.langFR {{in lang|fr}} ''Voyage au Pôle sud et dans l'Océanie sur les corvettes "l'Astrolabe" et "la Zélée", exécuté par ordre du Roi pendant les années 1837-1838-1839-1840 sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont-d'Urville, capitaine de vaisseau'', Paris, Gide éditeur, 1842–1846, tome 8, p. 149-152, site of Gallica, BNF].</ref><ref group="note">"''J'envoyai aussitôt un de nos matelots déployer un drapeau sur ces terres qu'aucune créature humaine n'avait ni vues ni foulées avant nous''". (I sent one of our sailors at once to deploy a flag on these lands which no human creature had seen nor trod before us) — from the Diary of Joseph Dubouzet, an officer on the ''Zélée'').</ref> Dumont named the archipelago [[Géologie Archipelago|Pointe Géologie]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shom.fr/fr_page/fr_prod_cartes/cc/cataligne/carte_7593.htm|title=Catalogue des cartes en ligne|access-date=18 January 2015}}{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att023_f.jpg |title={{in lang{{!}}fr}} IGN Map of Pointe Géologie archipelago, site of Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, Documents, Historic Sites and Monuments |access-date=19 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113014735/http://ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att023_f.jpg |archive-date=13 November 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the land beyond, [[Adélie Land|Terre Adélie]]<ref group="note">Alors, j'annonçais aux officiers rassemblés en présence de l'équipage que cette terre porterait désormais le nom de terre Adélie. Cette désignation est destinée à perpétuer le souvenir de ma profonde reconnaissance pour la compagne dévouée qui a su par trois fois consentir à une séparation longue et douloureuse, pour me permettre d'accomplir mes projets d'explorations lointaines. (Then, I announced to the officers gathered in the presence of the crew that this land would carry from now on the name of ''Terre Adélie''.  This name is intended to perpetuate the memory of my deep recognition for my devoted partner who agreed three times to long and painful separations, to enable me to carry out my plans for remote explorations.)</ref> The map of the coast drawn under sail by the hydrographer {{Interlanguage link multi|Clément Adrien Vincendon-Dumoulin|fr}} is remarkably accurate given the means of the time.<ref>[http://www.ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att022_f.jpg {{in lang|fr}} ''Carte des explorations effectuées par les corvettes "l'Astrolabe" et "la Zélée" dans les régions circum-polaires levée par Vincendon-Dumoulin'', 1841 (plate of ''Voyage au Pôle sud et dans l'Océanie sur les corvettes "l'Astrolabe" et "la Zélée"''), site of Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty, Documents, Historic Sites and Monuments] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113014738/http://ats.aq/documents/ATCM29/att/ATCM29_att022_f.jpg |date=13 November 2014 }}, enlarge to find the position number 38 of the ships before landing on [[Débarquement Rock]] more than 7 nautical miles southward (about 14 km), near the tongue of the [[Astrolabe Glacier]] called ''Pointe Géologie'' on the map</ref>

In the following days the expedition followed the coast westward then led for the first time some experiments to determine the approximate position of the [[South magnetic pole]]. They sighted the American [[schooner]] ''Porpoise'' of the [[United States Exploring Expedition]] commanded by [[Charles Wilkes]] on 30 January 1840, but failed to communicate due to a misunderstanding.<ref name=Stanton>{{cite book|last1=Stanton|first1=William|title=The Great United States Exploring Expedition|date=1975|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=0520025571|pages=[https://archive.org/details/greatunitedstate00will/page/176 176-177]|url=https://archive.org/details/greatunitedstate00will/page/176}}</ref> On 1 February, Dumont decided to turn to the north heading for Hobart, which the two ships reached 17 days later.  They were present for the arrival of the two ships of [[James Clark Ross|James Ross]]'s expedition to Antarctica, [[HMS Terror (1813)|HMS ''Terror'']] and [[HMS Erebus (1826)|HMS ''Erebus'']].

On 25 February, the schooners sailed towards the [[Auckland Islands]], where they carried out magnetic measurements and they left a commemorative plate of their visit (as had the commander of ''Porpoise'' previously), in which they announced the discovery of the South Magnetic Pole.<ref group="note">The plate stated, among other things: “"Du 19 Janvier au 1 Février, 1840, découverte de la Terre Adélie et détermination du pole magnétique Austral!” (From 19 January to 1 February 1840, discovered Adélie Land and determined the position of the Southern Magnetic Pole!”</ref>   They returned via New Zealand, the [[Torres Strait]], [[Timor]], [[Réunion]], [[Saint Helena]] and finally Toulon, returning on 6 November 1840, the last French expedition of exploration to sail.

==== Return to France ====
[[File:Voyage au pole sud.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Frontispiece to: ''Voyage au pole sud et dans l'Oceanie'']]

On his return Dumont d'Urville was promoted to [[rear admiral]] and was awarded the [[Gold Medal of the Société de Géographie]] (Geographical Society of Paris), later becoming its president.  He then took over the writing of the report of the expedition, ''Voyage au pôle Sud et dans l'Océanie sur les corvettes l'Astrolabe et la Zélée 1837–1840'', which was published between 1841 and 1854 in 24 volumes, plus seven more volumes with illustrations and maps.