Narrative and Successful Result of a Voyage in the South Seas, Performed by Order of the Government of British India, to ascertain the actual Fate of

First edition. Two volumes. London: Hurst, Chance, and Co., 1829. Octavo (211 x 134mm.). With 3 lithographed plates (one hand-colored), one folding map, modern brown morocco gilt, browning at extremities. This voyage finally solved the mystery of the disappearance of La Perouse in 1788. Dillon travelled frequently in connection with the sandalwood trade and in 1813 his crew was attacked in the Fiji Islands. A number were killed but when Dillon revisited Tikopia in 1826 he found two survivors who had come across artefacts belonging to La Perouse. Dillon reported this to the Bengal government and was sent to investigate, eventually finding evidence of the lost ships on reefs of Santa Cruz. Abbey, Travel 598; Ferguson 1255; Hill (2004) 480. Ex coll. Clayre and Jay Michael Haft; their sale, Sotheby's London, 12 December 2023, lot 97.