The Expedition
The French Academy of Sciences sent a 10-member expedition to the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1735, which was the first scientific expedition to the New World. The French mapmakers went to measure a degree of latitude at the equator in order to answer questions about the exact size and shape of the earth. But as they were the first foreigners that Spain had allowed to travel widely in Peru, the French scientists were also eager to explore the flora and fauna of this “new world,” and in many ways, their expedition to South America was similar in kind to the exploration of the American northwest by Lewis and Clark.
The illustrations here are from works published by Charles Marie de La Condamine and Pierre Bouguer, and two Spanish naval officers who accompanied the expedition, Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa.
La Condamine’s map of his 10-year journey to South America
The expedition travels up the Chagres River, on its way across Panama.
After sailing down the coast of South America, the expedition landed in Manta on March 8, 1736. The group split up there. While La Condamine and Pierre Bouguer stayed behind, Ulloa, Juan and the others headed south to Guayaquil. This drawing depicts a balsa raft in the Bay of Guayaquil.
During their time in Peru, Ulloa and Juan traveled widely throughout the viceroyalty. This is their depiction of tropical regions near the Andes.
