---
title: "European and American voyages of scientific exploration"
chunk: 7/11
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_and_American_voyages_of_scientific_exploration"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:39:10.846547+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

==== 1826–29: Senyavin and Moller ====
A Russian circumnavigation on the ship Senyavin, sailing from Kronstadt and rounding Cape Horn, accompanied by Captain Mikhail Nikolaievich Staniukovich in command of the sloop Moller. During the voyage Litke and his team described the western coastline of the Bering Sea, the Bonin Islands off Japan, and the Carolines, and discovered 12 new islands. The expedition strengthened the Russian presence near Alaska. A large collection of natural history specimens was made including 1,000 new species of insects, fish, birds and other animals, and 2,500 plant specimens including algae and minerals.

Captain: Fyodor Litke (1797–1882)
Botanist-naturalist: Karl Heinrich Mertens (1796–1830)
Naturalist: Heinrich von Kittlitz (1799–1874)
Mineralogist: Alexander Philipov Postels (1801–1871)
Published by: F. Litke, Trip around the world (1835–1836).

==== 1827–28: La Chevrette ====
The first French expedition to map the coast of India.

Captain: Theodore Fabré (1795–1830)
Surgeon-naturalist: Auguste Adolphe Marc Reynaud (1804–?)

==== 1828: Ms. Korvet Triton ====
Dutch exploration of New Guinea.

The corvette Triton
The brig Iris
Expedition leader: Dr. H.C. Macklot
Captain of Triton: J.J. Steenboom

==== 1829: La Cybèle ====
Scientific exploration was placed under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent (1778–1846).

Captain: Marie Antoine Chevalier de Robillard (1788–1837)
Zoologists: Gaspard Auguste Brullé (1809–1873) and Sextius Delaunay
Botanist: Jean-Marie Despréaux (1794–1843)
Geologist: Pierre Théodore Virlet D'Aoust (1800–1894)
Artist: Prosper Baccuet (1798–1854)

==== 1829–32: La Favorite ====
As British, American and Dutch voyages consolidated their interest in Australia, Hawaii and New Guinea, the French government sought to secure the religious freedoms and rights of French residents in the South Pacific. The expedition passed the Cape of Good Hope, stopping at Pondicherry and Madras, and then exploring the coast of Cochinchina and Tonkin, stopping in the Philippines, Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand.  The expedition was considered a great success, many hydrological observations were completed and natural history collections assembled.

Captain: Cyrille Pierre Théodore Laplace (1793–1875)
Naturalist: Joseph Fortuné Théodore Eydoux (1802–1841)
Publication: C.P.T. Laplace, Journey around the world by the India and China seas, running on the corvette of the State the Favorite during the 1830s, 1831 and 1832 under the command of Mr Laplace captain of frégatte. Published by order of Mr. Vice-Admiral comte Rigny Minister of marine and colonies. (seven volumes including two atlas, Paris, 1833–1839).

==== 1831–36: HMS Beagle ====

A world circumnavigation to make a hydrographic survey of the coast of Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, Chile and Peru, and establish accurate longitude measurements. Charles Darwin paid his own way as a naturalist/companion to the captain, and found the voyage a stimulus both to his understanding as a geologist and to the formulation of his Theory of Evolution.

Captain: Robert FitzRoy (1805–1865)
Physician-naturalist: Robert McCormick (1800–1890) until April 1832, followed by Benjamin Bynoe (1803–1865)
Artist: Augustus Earle, replaced by Conrad Martens
Naturalist (supernumerary passenger): Charles Darwin (1809–1882)
Publications: C. Darwin (editor), Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle. (five volumes, 1838–1843),R. FitzRoy (editor), Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe. (volume 2 and appendix by FitzRoy, Proceedings of the second expedition, 1831–36, under the command of Captain Robert Fitz-Roy, R.N.  (1839), volume 3 by C. Darwin Journal and Remarks, (1839).)C. Darwin, The Geology of the Voyage of The Beagle (three volumes, The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs (1842), Geological Observations on the Volcanic Islands (1844), Geological Observations on South America (1846).)

==== 1835 and 1836: La Recherche ====

Two French expeditions to the coasts of Iceland and Greenland in an attempt to trace the Bordelaise commanded by Jules de Blosseville (1802–1833), which had been missing since 1833.

Captain François Thomas Tréhouart (1798–1873)
Physician-naturalist: Joseph Paul Gaimard (1796–1858) assisted by Elie Jean-François Le Guillou (1806–1894) (first voyage) and by Charles René Augustin Léclancher (1804–1857) (second voyage), Louis Eugène Robert

==== 1836–39: Vénus ====
A French expedition (circumnavigation) in the frigate Vénus to assess the economic viability of whaling in the North Pacific. However, it's the safeguarding of the French Catholics in the Pacific that will remain the most notable feat of Captain Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars.

Captain: Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars (1793–1864)
Engineer hydrographer: Urbain Dortet de Tessan (1804–1879)
Physician-naturalist: Adolphe Simon Neboux (1806–1844)
Surgeon: Charles René Augustin Léclancher (1804–1857)
Publication: A.A. Petit-Thouars, Travel around the world on the frigate Venus. (eleven volumes, 1840–1864).

==== 1836–37: La Bonite ====
A global circumnavigation sailing the coast of South America, back along the West Coast to California, across the Pacific, reaching Manila, China, India, the Isla Borbón and returning to France. More than 1,000 new plant species were collected and many geographical and meteorological observations made.

Captain: Auguste-Nicolas Vaillant (1793–1858)
Physician-naturalist: Joseph Fortuné Théodore Eydoux (1803–1841) and Louis François Auguste Souleyet (1811–1852)
Hydrographer: Benoît Darondeau (1805–1869)
Pharmacy-botanist: Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré (1789–1854)
Publication: A. N. Vaillant, Trip around the world executed during the years 1836 and 1837 on the corvette Bonito ... (eleven volumes, Paris, 1841–1852).

==== 1836–42: HMS Sulphur ====
Exploration of the Pacific coast of America and interior of Nicaragua and El Salvador. Sulphur participated in the First Opium War between 1840 and 1841 and was later used to survey the harbour of Hong Kong in 1841, returning to England in 1842.

Captain: Edward Belcher (1799–1877)
Physician-naturalist: Richard Brinsley Hinds (1811–1846)
Publications: E. Belcher, Narrative of a Voyage Round the World in HMS Sulphur. (two volumes, 1843) (Volume 1, Volume 2); R.B. Hinds (editor), "The Zoology of the Voyage of HMS Sulphur" (two volumes, 1843–1844).

==== 1837–40: L'Astrolabe and La Zélée ====