In the late 1700s it was not only the British who were sailing around the world, as today’s entry shows.
Bougainvillea: In the late 1700s it was not only the British who were sailing around the world. Louis Bougainville, a French admiral and explorer, achieved the first circumnavigation of the globe by a Frenchman. He was earlier involved in a premature effort at the French colonization of South America, in the French victory at the Battle of the Chesapeake (one of the factors leading to British defeat in the American War of Independence). His claim to etymological fame lies with bougainvillea, a type of South American shrub which was “discovered” by Philibert Commercon as a passenger on Bougainville’s voyage around the world. Just like Cook and Banks, he recorded his experiences for posterity. “A Voyage Round the World” became a bestseller, particularly due to its depiction of Tahiti as home to the “noble savage”, a paradise on earth, far, far away from the corrupting influence of Western civilization.
