Hawaii. Kau-ike-uli King of the Hawaiian Islands. c1834

by D'Urville, Dumont

Antique Print of Kau-ike-eali Roi des Iles Hawaii. Chapelle & Palais du Gouverneur de Cahou. Chapel and Palace of Governor of Cahou(?) The King is shown with a bow and arrow.

This pair of engravings was published in Paris c1834-5 for Voyages Pittoresque Autour de Monde  (Picturesque Voyages around the World) by Dumont d'Urville - with illustrations from many earlier voyages of discoveries - of Magellan, Tasman, Dampier, Anson, Byron, Wallis, Carteret, Bougainville, Cook, Laperouse, G. Bligh, Vancouver, D'Entrecasteaux, Wilson, Baudin, Flinders, Freycinet, Duperrey, and many others, including his own voyages.

Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (1790-1842), was physically weak but an industrious student who loved botany and entomology, learned many foreign languages, and was captivated by news of discoveries from around the world. He became a naval officer and explorer, and ultimately, a Rear Admiral.

From 1822 to 1825, with Lieutenant Louis Isidore Duperrey in command of Coquille, D'Urville explored the Pacific - including Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. On his first voyage Dumont d'Urville named hundreds of newly discovered botanical specimens and insects. He had a good memory and an ear for the differences between native dialects around Polynesia and Melanesia, and named the groups of Pacific islands. From 1826 to 1829 D'Urville returned to the Pacific in command of Coquille, renamed Astrolabe in honour of La Perouse whose ships had not returned to France.

The page measures 265 x 175 mm (approximately 10.5 x 7 inches).