Lapérouse

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When the First Fleet arrived at Botany Bay, they decided to move to Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) a short way to the north along the coast. Just as they were leaving, they encountered three French ships under the command of Admiral Lapérouse who was also exploring the unknown south land for France. The French ships anchored in Botany Bay. They stayed there for six weeks and the English and French sent cordial messages to each other.

Read what happened to Count de Lapérouse at the NSW Library website.

Lindfield, N.S.W. : Scholastic Press, 2012. 185 p. ; 20 cm. The story of a French girl who is a stowaway on the ship of Lapérouse and who, disguised as a boy, sails with the crew to Botany Bay. The book is written for slightly older children and would require some previous knowledge about the French Revolution for the children to understand its background, but extracts could be read to a class learning about the voyages of Lapérouse. Most of the characters in the story, apart from Julienne herself, did exist, and many of the incidents are based on accounts in the journals of Lapérouse and in journals written by members of the First Fleet. True historical accounts do also exist of women disguising themselves as males and being part of the crew on long sea voyages to the New World. || ||
 * =====Voyage to Botany Bay / Chrissie Michaels (My Australian Story series)=====

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