Louis-Antoine de Bougainville encounters the largest reef in the world
1768 CE • Great Barrier Reef
In the spring of 1768, the 2 vessels reached the eastern waters of Australia where reefs prevented them from approaching the coast. Bougainville had just discovered the Great Barrier Reef: “Lookouts saw new shoals from atop the masts,” he wrote, “We couldn’t see where they ended.”
in Vincent Hilaire, "In the wake of Bougainville and La Boudeuse," Fondation Tara Océan, October 22, 2017.
Image: Louis Antoine de Bougainville - Voyage de Bougainville autour du monde (années 1766, 1767, 1768 et 1769), raconté par lui-même, 1889.
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