Artwork Information

The Astrolabe weathered a violent storm in the Bay of Plenty over 15-16 February 1827, and was in danger of shipwreck. D'Urville described their predicament "Very soon the gale became a raging hurricane, the waves rose to a terrifying height, while remaining quite short and thus even more dangerous....For four whole hours this awesome disturbance of nature held us in a desperate situation. The force of the wind, the fury of the waves and the enveloping darkness reduced us to pitiful inactivity and utter ignorance as to our position. All we knew was that we were surrounded on every side by danger and felt that a few more violent jolts and our masts would come down." (Rosenman, 1987, pp.100-1)