Captain, later Admiral, Abraham de Bellebat (Belébat?) de Duquesne-Guitton, also spelled Duquesne-Guiton (1648-d. 1724), was a French naval commander. In 1687 he sailed from the Cape of Good Hope in ''L'Oiseau'', with a French Ambassador,

Claude Céberet du Boullay Claude Céberet du Boullay (1647–1702) was a 17th-century French diplomat who participated in the La Loubère-Céberet embassy as "envoy extraordinary" to the kingdom of Siam (modern Thailand) in 1687. He was co-representative of the mission wi ...

, on board, to establish a French Embassy in the

Kingdom of Siam Kingdom of Siam may refer to: * Sukhothai Kingdom (1238–1351) * Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351–1767) * Thonburi Kingdom (1768–1782) * Rattanakosin Kingdom (1782–1932) * Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and official ...

. He sighted Eendracht Land on the

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

n coast and sailed in close to shore near the Swan River on 4 August - this was France's first recorded contact with Australia. He wrote that it looked very attractive, and fully covered with green despite "the fact that we were in the middle of winter in this country". His nephew Nicolas Gedeon de Voutron also sighted the western coast of Australia that year on another ship at the same latitude. He was appointed Governor General of the

Windward Islands french: Îles du Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean Sea No ...

("Gouverneur général des Isles du Vent") in reward for renouncing Protestantism and becoming a Catholic, and held that office from 1714 to 1717. p245

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duquesne-Guitton, Abraham History of the French Navy French explorers French Navy admirals European exploration of Australia 1648 births 1724 deaths Governors general of the French Antilles