Author's note: The last dispatches of de la Perouse, dated Botany Bay, Feb. 7, 1788, contain the following passages: I shall again make a run to the Friendly Islands, and I shall strictly perform every thing that has been enjoined me by my instructions. Towards the latter end of July, 1780, I shall pass between New Guinea and New Holland by a different channel than Endeavour Strait, provided such a one exist. During the month of September and a part of October, I shall visit the Gulf of Carpentaria, and all the west coast of New Holland as far as Van Diemen's Land, but yet in such a manner that it may be possible for me to get to the northward in time to arrive at the Isle of France in the beginning of December 1788.'
It is needless to add that this important navigator has never been heard of since he sailed from Botany Bay.