In 1785 Comte Jean-François de Galaup de La Pérouse (1741-1788) sailed from France to Easter Island, the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands, north to Alaska and south along the Pacific coast from San Francisco to Monterey. From there he sailed to China and the Philippians, through the Sea of Japan to Siberia. Next he sailed to the Navigators’ Islands, the Friendly Islands, Norfolk Islands and Botany Bay, Australia. Finally, he sailed to the Santa Cruz Islands where he and his crew disappeared. His records, which had been sent overland to France from Petropavlovlsk on Kamchatka, were edited by L.A. Milet-Mureau and published posthumously as A Voyage Round the World in 1797.

     On August 1, 1785 Jean Françoise de Galaup, Comte de La Pérouse sailed from Brest for Brazil. From there he sailed to Alaska, Macao, the Philippines, Korea and Kamchatka and finally to Norfolk Island and Botany Bay.
     He sailed from Botany Bay on March 10 and disappeared. In 1828 Dumont d'Urville found the wreckage of La Pérouse's ships at Vanikoro, Santa Cruz, north of the New Hebredes. The map on the stamp issued by New Caledonia to commemorate the bicentenary of the disappearance of the La Pérouse expedition shows the course to Botany Bay, New Caledonia and Vanikoro.
     In addition to the map the stamp design features a portrait of La Pérouse, and two ships, La Boussole and L'Astrolabe.