This stamp issued by France in 1942 marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of Jean-François de Galaup de la Pérouse. In 1788 la Pérouse. led an expedition into the New Hebrides and disappeared. In 2005 a wreck as la Pérouse's ship La Boussole, was found off the island of vanikor (also known as Pitt's Island).

     The stamp features a portrait of la Pérouse, and an oval map centered on the Pacific Ocean. In the lower right corner are the dates and places of la Pérouse's birth and death. The stamp is a semi-postal with the surcharge for national relief.

     Walter Klinefelter writes that the map projection used on the stamp is "the elliptical equal-area projection" which "present surfaces in their correct proportions, but distorts shapes, directions, and distances" ("The World in One's Vest Pocket," Scott's Stamp Monthly, September, 1943, p. 206).