TitleEngraving, Plan d’une partie de l’Ile de Maouna; Plan de l'Anse du Massacre, Pl. 65 of Atlas du voyage de LapérouseDate1797About this objectConsisting of two maps, this print is one among 37 copperplate engravings from the first edition of Atlas du voyage de Lapérouse, published by the Imprimerie de la Republique in 1797. The first map illustrates part of the Maouna Island, now Tutuila Island in American Samoa. The other map focuses on the Massacre Bay on the northwest part of the island, where a tragic confrontation between La Pérouse’s crew and the local inhabitants took place on 11 December 1787. The locations of la Boussole, l'Astrolabe and the two ship’s boats when the massacre happened are marked on the map. Casualties on the French side included the death of Paul Antoine Fleuriot de Langle, the second-in-command of La Pérouse’s expedition, and the injury of the chaplain Pere Receveur, who died two months later at Botany Bay and was buried near what is now Frenchmans Beach.
The original copperplates of the 1797 atlas accompanying the journal of La Pérouse’s expedition during 1785 and 1788 are now held in the collection of the Musée de la Marine, Paris. They were etched in 1796-1797 based on sketches sent back to France during the expedition.Object No.98.1-6Inscriptions & marksPlan d'une partie de l'Ile de Maouna, vue par les Fregates Francaises la Boussole et l'Astrolabe en Decembre 1787 / Plan de l'Anse du Massacre, située a la partie nord-ouest de Maouna, l'une des Iles des Navigateurs. Position des chaloupes et canots des Fregates Francaises au moment du Massacre du 11 Decembre 1787 / L. Aubert script.Place madeFranceSourceLa Perouse MuseumProvenance 1797 – printed as the first edition of Atlas du voyage de Lapérouse, published by the Imprimerie de la Republique;
1974 – found by Mrs Edith Avramoussi in an attic in a house in Paris;
1978 – brought to Australia by Avramoussi;
1998 – donated to the La Perouse Museum by Avramoussi.Credit lineGift of Edith Avramoussi, 1998Acquisition date1998Organisations (Detailed entries)La Perouse Museum (La Perouse, N.S.W.)ThemesEuropean arrivals
Engraving, Plan d’une partie de l’Ile de Maouna; Plan de l'Anse du Massacre, Pl. 65 of Atlas du voyage de Lapérouse (1797). Randwick City Council, accessed 20/05/2026, https://ourstory.randwick.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/13850
