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THE LINDA HALL LIBRARY HISTORY OF SCIENCE COLLECTION
 

Voyages: Scientific Circumnavigations 1679 to 1859
  Louis-Antoine comte de Bougainville's Voyage 1766-1769
 

Strait of Magellan

fromVoyages and descriptions. Vol. II.
London: Knapton, 1699.

 

Along the Strait of Magellan, Bougainville encountered the Patagonian Indians:

"We hardly set foot on shore, but we saw six Americans come to us on horseback, in full gallop… What makes them seem gigantic are their prodigious broad shoulders… their nerves are braced, and their muscles are strong … their language seemed very delicate."

 

From the Malouines, Bougainville sailed west to South America and entered the Strait of Magellan. There he made some of the most important achievements of the voyage by mapping the strait in detail, and describing specific harbors that could be safely used by future navigators. Systematic observations of longitude were recorded during the voyage and one of the expedition’s notable achievements was to improve the determination of longitude in navigation.

 

Bougainville: Page 2 of 6.
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